Standing in Awe of Death
by Ramabear
Summary: After years of bullying, Katsuki discovers Izuku was born with a quirk after all. Their relationship quickly shifts from bully and victim to close friends to something more. This story follows their progression from that first afternoon together, to meeting All Might, to getting into Yuuei and beyond. [ AJIN AU, Katsudeku, KiriTodo, dangerously co-dependent relationship]
1. Terminal Velocity 1

**Warnings: Canon-typical vulgarity, Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Death Experimentation, Temporary Character Death, Blood & Gore, Minor Character Deaths**

 **Disclaimer: i do not own bnha, obviously.**

 **Heads Up:** I changed the title to the Series Title and I'm just gonna shove these all in chronological(ish) order. So they're [Title: Summary] for the first chapter and [Title Chapter Number: Chapter Title] for the subsequent ones. All intermissions/addendums will be labeled. There wil be time skips. Enjoy.

* * *

 **Terminal Velocity: Summary  
** _Katsuki drives Izuku over the edge and, together, they discover Izuku wasn't quirkless after all. Rekindling their childhood friendship, Katsuki and Izuku begin to test out the limits of Izuku's incredible new quirk. It is a very messy process._

* * *

 **Terminal Velocity 1: friends again**  
 _Katsuki discovers firsthand that Izuku has a quirk after all._

* * *

Katsuki panted as he jogged back up the concrete path to the school building. Of fucking course, he'd forget his stupid fucking history assignment in the classroom today of all days. It was hot outside and miserable under his black uniform. He'd been most of the way home, too, which only made everything fucking worse.

Hopefully the school building was still unlocked and he could slip in without any trouble. Most of the clubs were probably finished by now. Katsuki couldn't hear or see any of the sport clubs out in this heat, which made sense. He wouldn't have been out in this weather if he'd had a choice about it.

Slowing down, he was about ten feet from the front door when he saw a shadow pass over the ground. Katsuki looked up. He saw something black against the blue sky. His eyes focused on it, recognized the black as a school uniform, identified the curly dark hair and the pale face beneath it.

As his brain put a name to that face - Deku- he realized that the idiot was falling head first.

And he was aimed right for pavement.

The sickening sound of meat slapping concrete, the slick splatter of blood, the sharp crack bone, filled the air. All other sounds went utterly silent except for Katsuki's ragged breathing. Deku hit the ground once and with enough force that he bounced once and landed again, his broken body sprawled across the pathway in front of Katsuki.

Katsuki forgot his homework entirely. All he could think was that he had run back to the school to see this. To see Deku jump. To see the slow spread of bright red blood on the ground. To see the mangled body and bones. To see a split skull with red stained tissue leaking out of it. To see sightless eyes staring out at nothing, not at Katsuki, not at the sky, just off to the side.

What had been Deku's last sight? What had been his last thought? Why had he jumped?

Katsuki took a half step back. He didn't need to ask that last question. He knew why. It was clear as day. It rang like a bell in his head. How many times had he told Deku he'd be better off jumping to his death? How many times had he told him it was better to be dead than quirkless?

"Fuck," Katsuki whispered. He didn't know what else to say or who to say it to.

All at once the buzzing sound of insects started up again. Except it wasn't quite right. Except it was too loud. Except it came from in front of Katsuki. Except it started to sound like the snapping of wood or bone.

Except Deku's body was moving.

Katsuki took another step back. "What the fuck."

Deku rolled over and gasped. There was blood on his skin, but as Katsuki watched, his limbs pulled back into the right position, the right shape. The tears in his clothing remained, but through those holes, Katsuki could see Deku's skin repairing itself. There was something around him, moving and shifting, like grains of black sand. As the scratching, insect-like sound ended, so did the shifting sand.

Soon, the only noise was the rasp of Deku's labored breathing. Katsuki stared, transfixed, with his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, his eyes wide and his heart in his throat, hammering harder and harder.

Deku closed his eyes. Deku opened them again. He sat up slowly, looking around him. There was blood all over the concrete. Blood all over him. Blood even on Katsuki. He had felt it impact on his cheek and there had to be more hidden in the black of his uniform.

"Deku?" Katsuki asked his throat tight. The word came out as a croak.

Deku blinked once and turned to look at him, "Kacchan? What… what happened?"

"You died," Katsuki said. "You hit the ground and died and then you-" he gestured towards him, towards the ground and his body, "You twisted around and fucking came back to life. What the hell did you do, Deku!?"

Deku stared down at his hands, at his clothes and then looked up in confusion again at Katsuki. "It didn't work?" Tears welled up in his eyes, which was really unsurprising to Katsuki. Deku cried over everything, as far as he was concerned. "I can't even kill myself right?"

Katsuki found it hard to breathe around the ice in his chest. He had been right in his assumption. Deku had been trying to kill himself. Fuck. Fuck. What did that even mean?

It came to him so suddenly, Katsuki's back jerked like he'd been struck with a short shock. "A quirk. That's your quirk. You fucking have a quirk!"

Deku wiped at his face with his arm, smearing blood across his skin. Tears were flooding down from his eyes and he kept scrubbing at them. "W-what?"

"Think about it!" Katsuki said, taking a step forward. He stopped there because of the blood on the ground. "Can doctors really test for a death quirk? No. Of course not! So this has gotta be your quirk!"

"I have a-" Deku's eyes widened. "But I have the joint in my toe! They said I don't have a quirk!"

"You fucking broke your skull open on the fucking ground in front of me," Katsuki shouted, his voice harsher than usual. He was never going to forget that image. He wasn't about to let Deku forget either. "You fucking died." He gestured to the blood, "There's no fucking way you should be sitting up and fucking talking, idiot Deku. Can you stand? Can you walk? Are you hurting anywhere?"

Deku looked at his hands, opening and shutting them a few times before he got up to his knees and then to his feet. He swayed for a second and then found his balance. Standing up in the center of the blood splatter, he seemed to see how much there was for the first time. He went pale and quickly looked up from the ground, "I have a death quirk?"

"Well either that or you're cursed to not be able to kill yourself or some shit, I don't fucking know," Katsuki said. "All I know is that you didn't die from this fall."

"Maybe it wasn't high enough," Deku said thoughtfully. "Should I try again on a taller building?" Then he paused, wincing, "Falling like that hurt a lot, though… Or at least, the putting myself back together did."

Katsuki's stomach churned at the thought of Deku hitting the ground again. Behind his eyelids, there was that bounce, that blank gaze, and all that blood, flashing in front of him each time he blinked. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything, couldn't. He closed his mouth again and rubbed it with his hand. Deku looked up at him, interrupting his own mumbling.

"What if I can only die and come back once?" Deku asked, "What if it doesn't work a second time?"

"Then you wasted your shitty quirk already," Katsuki said. He could answer this. It was obvious. "And you might as well be quirkless still. It's not like anyone is going to fucking believe you if you can't do it again."

Deku's hands tightened into fists. "Do you still think I should die if I'm quirkless?" he asked, "If I have a quirk, will you be my friend again?"

Katsuki blinked. At twelve years old, having a quirk was all that seemed to matter. It had been the most important thing in his life for years. Deku had been worthless because he had had no quirk and had still tried to be better than Katsuki. He had pitied Katsuki. Katsuki knew he had, he had seen that sad look on Deku's stupid face so many times.

But if Deku had a quirk that made it impossible for him to die… Well, he probably wouldn't be as good a hero as Katsuki, that's for sure, but he could be a rescue person. Or he'd probably be a good teammate, considering how explosive Katsuki's own quirk was. He wouldn't have to be afraid of hurting Deku. Deku could heal from death. He could heal from anything.

Katsuki nodded. "If you have a quirk, I'll be your friend again."

Deku clutched the front of his ruined jacket with one tight fist. "Really? You promise?"

"Yeah."

Deku closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, he looked up with determination shining in his green eyes. "Okay. Let's find a taller building."

Katsuki looked at the blood on Deku's face and nodded.

* * *

The bounce was worse this time. The blood splatter larger. Katsuki had to clap both hands over his mouth to keep from vomiting at the sight, the smell of spilled organs all over the ground. But it worked.

It worked.

Deku's body pulled back together on its own. He sat up, slowly, breathing evenly and shaking only a little bit. When he sat there for longer than a minute, just breathing, unmoving, Katsuki stepped forward.

If his hand was shaking when he reached out to Deku, neither one of them said anything. After all, Deku was trembling as well.

"I have a quirk," was the first thing he said to Katsuki as he was pulled to his feet. His eyes were shining. There was an excited flush to his face. "I have a quirk!"

Katsuki tightened his grip around Deku's hand. "Yeah. You do. Now c'mon. People saw you fall, we gotta get out of here." He tugged on him, pulling him away.

As they left the scene, left the blood all over the ground, and walked away with their rekindled friendship, Katsuki heard Deku whisper, "Will I come back from any death?"

* * *

[part 1 of 3]


	2. Terminal Velocity 2

**Terminal Velocity 2: maternal instinct**  
 _Inko discovers Izuku's recovered friendship with Katsuki._

* * *

"Mom?" Izuku asked one morning over breakfast, "Is it okay if Kacchan comes over this weekend?"

Inko looked up from her meal, hands frozen in midair. "What was that?" It was always a worrying thing when Izuku brought up Katsuki as a topic of discussion. There was no avoiding the little bully since they lived so close, they went to the same school and Izuku was so set on Katsuki being his friend again. She didn't understand, _couldn't_ understand why he was so interested in the other boy considering how badly Katsuki treated him.

"Kacchan," Izuku said, munching on his toast innocently. He smiled at his mother as he chewed and brushed crumbs off his face with one hand. "Can he come over this weekend to play?"

Inko slowly set down her cup. "Are you sure, Izuku? He didn't… He didn't make you ask this?"

"Uh huh," Izuku nodded. "I asked him if he wanted to come over. He said that now we're friends again that it's okay. We can play some games and do homework together!" Izuku's whole face lit up as he spoke. He ripped his toast into smaller pieces, fiddling with his food in his excitement.

"You two became friends again?" Inko asked, her brow furrowed together. "When did that happen?"

"Last week," Izuku said. He finished off his milk and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "So can he come over?"

"I… I guess?" She said. Already she was thinking of the conversation she was going to have to have with Haruka. A low-level headache began to form in the back of her mind. "But you two have to play where I can see you, okay?"

"Oh… we do?" Izuku frowned at his toast. "But why? We just want to study and come up with some stuff for later. We can do that in my room."

"If you're in your room I want you to have the door open," Inko said firmly. She wasn't about to have Katsuki bullying her child in her own home. If she had to keep an eye on them herself, she would.

Izuku pouted and tried to change her mind, but that made Inko only more resolute. They were twelve, they were too young and too old to leave totally alone. Inko had read things on the internet that gave her chills and turned her stomach and worried her. She just wanted to protect Izuku, but it was difficult when he brought his bully home from school.

Izuku went to school mostly happy, she had agreed to let Katsuki come over after all, and Inko fretted quietly in the kitchen while she cleaned up the remnants of breakfast. She kept checking the time, wondering if she'd even reach anyone were she to call the Bakugou residence.

Finally, she sucked up her anxiety and picked up the phone. She had Haruka's number still saved after all these years and she called it, heart beating hard in her chest.

After several rings, the phone was picked up on the other side. "Hello," came a female voice.

Inko swallowed. "Yes, hello, is this Haruka?"

"Yes."

"This is Inko," Inko said. She began to pace back and forth in her kitchen. Nervously, she tugged on a lock of her dark hair. "I'm calling to talk to you about-"

"My son. I know," Haruka cut her off. She gave a sharp sigh. "I expected this after last weekend. I saw the two little fuckers running around and I knew right then that you'd be calling me about my son. Again. So what the fuck is it this time?"

"Izuku wants your son to come over this weekend. To play, he said. He said that they were friends again. Do you know anything about this?" Inko kept her voice even, even though Haruka's abrasiveness rubbed her the wrong way.

"Do I know anything about it?" Haruka repeated back, her tone lightly dusted with mockery. "Well, considering I don't hover around my son and fuss over every little bruise or scraped knee, no. I don't. My boy can make his own choices in his friendship."

"I just thought it was a little odd for them to become friends again so suddenly considering," here, Inko hesitated but then steeled herself and pushed on, "considering how much bullying went on between them before."

"Look," Haruka said, "Clearly they overcame whatever childish problem it was. You know how little boys are, they pick on each other over stupid little shit and then grow up a little and become friends again. That's just what happened here." There was a shuffling of something on the other side of the phone.

"It wasn't just a childish disagreement-" Inko began, but again Haruka cut her off.

"If you have a problem with Katsuki coming over to your house, tell the boys to come over here instead. I think that this is good for them both and we should let them be." Haruka spoke briskly, "Stop trying to control every little bit of your son's life, alright? You've got to let your boy breathe or he'll become a nervous wreck, Inko"

 _Like you,_ her tone added, though she didn't say with her words.

Inko pressed her lips together in a thin line while she took in a deep, calming breath. Letting it out slowly, she said, "If you could just-"

"I'm sorry, but I really don't have any time for this shit," Haruka said. "I have to get to work and if I waste any more time trying to soothe your silly worries then I'll be late. If you have so much of a problem with them hanging out together, just don't let them do it in your home. I hope you realize that they're hitting the age that the more you tell them no, the more likely they are to go and do it just because. Anyway, I've got to go." And with that, she hung up the phone.

Inko lowered her phone from her ear and stared at the picture she had for Haruka. It was from the college years when the two of them were roommates. Inko had cropped the image so that it was mostly Haruka's face, but she could see a lock of dark hair along the edge that had belonged to her.

Sitting down at the table, she whispered, "It's not a childish difference, Haruka. It was about Izuku not having a quirk. There's no way that that can change so suddenly…"

* * *

Inko stepped out of the kitchen with a fretful little smile and her hands held tightly together in front of herself. She could hear Izuku and Katsuki by the front door, talking to each other. They sounded friendly enough, talking about a test for school that was coming up.

When they saw her, Izuku gave a big smile, "Hi mom!"

"Hi Izuku," Inko hesitated, looking at the scowling twelve-year-old in her living room. "Hello, Katsuki."

He grunted in reply. Izuku, while smiling at his mother, elbowed Katsuki. "Kacchan," he said, "Don't be rude to my mom."

Inko felt her breath catch as Katsuki rounded on her son. They locked gazes with each other and then finally Katsuki looked away with a click of his tongue. To Inko, he said, "Hello Auntie. Sorry for intruding."

"O-oh you're… You're no bother…" Inko said hesitantly. She blinked in surprise as Izuku urged Katsuki forward and past her.

"Come on, let's finish our homework quickly so we can work on that project for later," Izuku said. He had a hold on Katsuki's arm and pulled him along. Katsuki went willingly, asking about some reading that they had to do for class.

Inko watched them go, bewildered at Katsuki's behavior, at Izuku's. She hadn't seen them this familiar with each other, this _friendly_ in years. In years and years and _years._ "Izuku? Honey?" She called after him. "Remember your door."

He stopped at his bedroom door, where he had almost shut it. "Oh, right." Izuku glanced over his shoulder for a moment, but when he pulled away, he left the door open enough that Inko could hear that they were talking to each other, if not what it was about.

She lingered a little longer in the living room, straightening things and picking up the boys' abandoned jackets. Inko hung them up, straining her ears to hear anything out of the ordinary but, as she picked her way quietly towards the hallway, she could only hear them discussing a problem from their book. It sounded like something about terminal velocity, which she figured had to be some sort of upper-level science or math question.

Creeping up to the door, she gave it a light knock with her knuckle. "Izuku, do you and, ah, Katsuki want something to snack on?" She pushed the door open a little to see them sitting on the floor with several notebooks around themselves. Izuku had dragged a table into the room to work on. He and Katsuki sat next to each other at a corner, peering at the same open notebook. It looked like one of Izuku's. Inko could recognize them since she often bought them in bulk for her son. He had a whole shelf filled with hero books already.

"Uh, sure? Are you hungry for anything, Kacchan?"

"I'm thirsty," Katsuki said, not looking up from the book. He picked up a pen and made a note on the page, "I read online that it's twice this height before the water becomes uh, you know, like concrete or whatever. Before that and it's not likely to make the, uh, melon, break completely."

"Can we have some juice and maybe some fruit or something please?" Izuku asked before turning back to the paper. "Where would you even find something that high by the ocean?"

"Lighthouse or a cliff," Katsuki said, scribbling in a drawing of a lighthouse on the diagram. Inko watched him work for a moment, as silent as Izuku before she realized her son was staring at her.

"Mom?"

"Ah. Right." She stepped back, still marveling at how they sat so…so peacefully next to each other. "I'll bring you something right away." Inko left and slowly returned to the kitchen.

They were no different when she returned fifteen minutes later with a small tray of cut up fruit and a pair of drinks. Izuku was making a list while Katsuki read through a book, and they both were so hard at work that they thanked her without any fuss or even looking up.

She wandered out again and set about finishing up one of her own projects from earlier in the week. Once or twice she heard Katsuki raise his voice, but it never lasted for more than a few seconds and though he was as incredibly vulgar as always, she never heard Izuku cry out in pain afterward. In fact, once, she was sure she heard him shout at Katsuki to _"Knock it off! This isn't a competition!"_

As lunchtime approached, Inko came back to check on them. She knocked on the door and pushed it in. "Izuku? Katsuki? What do you boys want for lunch?"

Izuku was zipping up a backpack on his bed and Katsuki was tossing a few more pens into his own bag. Katsuki looked up to Izuku who shrugged. "Can we have something to go? We finished our work and so we wanted to go out to play for a while. Is that okay?"

"You want to go out together?" Inko looked nervously from one to the other. They had spent a little over two hours in the same room already without any incident, but surely this strange peace couldn't last… "Where are you going?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes, "Outside somewhere. Fucking _hell,_ does it really matter that much?"

Izuku glared at Katsuki and then said to his mom, "Probably to the park or up on the trail back behind the shrine on that big hill a few blocks over. We're going to, uh, check out some bugs. For science class."

"Yeah." Katsuki said, "We have to identify five different native bugs in the wild by sight. And we have to have a partner. I got stuck with Deku as mine."

Inko frowned. She really disliked that name Katsuki gave to her son. But Izuku gave Katsuki a smile so she acquiesced. "All right, I'll go make you two a sandwich."

"Can we have a couple extra, actually?" Izuku asked. "We're going to be pretty hungry running around outside." He flashed Inko a bright, hopeful smile. Inko sighed. She really should have expected this. He had been eating more these days, as all growing boys did- he just hadn't done much _growing_ to show for it.

"Well, all right. I suppose whatever you don't eat you can bring back and save for later," Inko agreed, stepping out of the doorway. "Do you want anything besides sandwiches?"

"Waterbottles," Izuku added. "I've got one and Kacchan brought his own to fill up but can we bring a couple spare ones? It might get hot or we might have to wash off our hands or something."

"How long do you two plan to be outdoors?" Inko asked.

"Well it won't be easy to find all the different kinds of bugs we need to," Izuku said.

"Yeah," Katsuki said, speaking slowly, "It's five _each_. That's ten species." He picked up his bag and swung it up onto his shoulder. "That's quite a lot, auntie."

Izuku's glare was accompanied by a sharp jab of his elbow into Katsuki's arm. "Don't talk to my mom that way, Kacchan or I'll go without you."

"What? Fuck you, I helped you with those formulas, you fucking have to bring me along to see how they play out!"

"Not if you act like that to my mom! I don't have to take you anywhere!" Izuku snapped back. Inko watched, surprised to see her son act that way to Katsuki. She had seen countless little bruises and cuts that Katsuki had given her son over the years but never had she seen him stand his ground like this before.

(Then again, it had been years since they had shared a room willingly like this. The last time Katsuki had been welcome in their home he hadn't even reached her hip in height.)

"So you're just going to steal my work for your stupid experiment?" Katsuki asked, taking a step towards Izuku. "What the fuck?"

"I didn't need your help with those formulas," Izuku said. "I could have done them on my own. You're not the only one who can search about terminal velocity on the internet, Kacchan."

They stared at each other, eyes narrowed, mouths in a pair of matching scowls. Katsuki huffed and folded his arms across his chest. "It would have taken you twice as long without me," he said. "You can't search as well as I can."

"It's not a competition," Izuku said, rubbing his face with one hand. "What am I even doing, arguing with you? Just stop being a jerk to my mom, okay?"

Katsuki suddenly turned to look at Inko. She instinctively froze up, staring back at the twelve-year-old. He looked so much like his mother in that moment that Inko had a moment of deja vu to the first time she'd met Haruka and that judgemental gaze she'd leveled Inko's way. She did the same thing she had done then. Inko held her ground, held his gaze, and waited silently.

Finally, he looked away, shrugging a shoulder, "Fine. Whatever. Can we go now? If we don't hurry we won't get back in time."

Izuku beamed. "Sure! Let's go help with the sandwiches." He hustled Katsuki out of his bedroom. Inko stepped aside so they could go past her. She blinked, watching them walk together in shock.

She didn't care what Haruka thought. _Something_ had happened to change the boys' friendship. She hadn't seen Izuku that happy in so, so long and she'd never seen Katsuki listen to Izuku that way. He was still an incorrigible brat, but there was a weird level of respect that Katsuki gave to Izuku. Inko could see it in Katsuki because Haruka looked the same way when she'd been a younger woman.

Perhaps she couldn't pinpoint the source of the change, but, as she walked into the kitchen to see them working together to make their lunch, Inko thought it might not matter all that much. If Izuku had found a way to stop Katsuki from bullying him, a way to repair their friendship, what harm could it be to leave them alone with it?

* * *

[part 2 of 3]


	3. Terminal Velocity 3

**terminal velocity 3: merit**  
 _Quirk testing is a two man job._

* * *

"Add to the list-" Izuku said breathlessly, rolling over as he lay on the ground so Kacchan could hear him better. "Add towel to the list. Make that towels. Plural."

He rolled back to his side, coughing up water again. His lungs hurt. His head hurt. Every inch of his skin felt raw like he'd scrubbed it with a hard sponge before jumping into the cold salt water. The water came out of his lungs in violent spurts of coughing fits.

Kacchan, crouching nearby with a notebook on his knee and pen in hand, watched with a frown. Izuku didn't have to see his frown to know it was there. He could feel it in the way Kacchan stared at him silently.

Izuku expelled the last bit of the saltwater from his body with a rough retching sound. Then he lay there panting, eyes closed, as he recovered. "Kacchan?"

Kacchan grunted in response.

"Are you taking notes?"

"Duh." Kacchan said, "Does this one count as drowning or falling from a great height?"

"Both," Izuku said. He rolled onto his back again and looked up. Kacchan was dutifully writing as he spoke. "I hit the water and broke a lot of things. I blacked out like I did when I fell from the building and came too in the water. Then, while I was down there, I drowned."

Kacchan nodded, scribbling down in the notebook. Izuku watched, blinking slowly. He was cold, wearing only his soaking wet underwear as he lay on the beach. The sun was low in the sky and the heat of the day was passing with it.

"It took a few minutes for your body to drift to the surface and back in with the tide," Kacchan said, checking the watch they were using to time Izuku with. "Were you unconscious the whole time?"

"I think so," Izuku said. "At least, up until that last minute or two."

"If you had sunk, do you think you would have come back?" Kacchan asked. "Is that a question for another time?"

Izuku nodded. "We'll have to do a more controlled drown. Like, in a tub or pool or something."

"Do you think you could stay in a hot spring long enough to die of the heat?" Kacchan asked, finally looking up. He tapped the end of the pen to his chin as he spoke. "Is that a real thing?"

"Yeah, for like, old people," Izuku said. He pushed himself upright. His skin was raised in gooseflesh and he was shivering. "We definitely need towels before we do any more water related tests."

"Good thing we brought spare clothes for you at least," Kacchan said. He straightened up and went for the backpacks that sat by a rock. Izuku was on perhaps the largest portion of sand on this part of the beach. Other than this patch, he was surrounded by a rocky shore. Kacchan picked up Izuku's bag and tossed it over. "Do you want the other sandwich now? Or are you good?"

"I want water," Izuku said. "My throat feels awful. And my stomach is worse. I don't think I've swallowed so much salt water before in my life."

"You've never fucking drowned before in your life, idiot." Kacchan tossed over one of the water bottles as well. It hit a rock beside Izuku and bounced. He scrambled after it before it rolled away and broke the seal to drink it down. Kacchan wrote a few more notes in their notebook, sitting on a larger rock by the bags.

When Izuku finished the water, he put the cap on and tucked it into his bag. He pulled out his clothes and stripped out of the wet underwear to dress again. "Where are my shoes, Kacchan?"

"Over here still. You didn't want them to get wet, remember? And the tide was changing," Kacchan closed the book with a snap and held it out. Izuku carefully picked his way across the rocks with his bare feet. He took the book from Kacchan and flipped it open to look at Kacchan's notes. "You'll need to record what they felt like, the fall and the impact and the drowning," Kacchan said, "Like you did for the tree earlier."

"Yeah." Izuku said, "How many times does this make?"

"For today?" Kacchan said, pulling out the other water bottle. "Four. In total? I think about fourteen?" He drank from his bottle, "Why?"

"It just seems like we've covered a lot of the basics and a lot of the easy stuff," Izuku said. "I don't know what else we can test…" He flipped through the notebook, frowning at the pages. He refused to look up, even when he closed it. "What happens when there's nothing left that we can test right now?"

"What do you mean when there's nothing left? What do you mean what happens?" Kacchan scowled. "We haven't even gone through half your list of possibilities."

"A lot of those are just different tools for the same thing, Kacchan," Izuku said. He chewed on his thumbnail, anxiety twisting through him. "And I mean- well I mean- You're not just going to stop being my friend because the tests end, will you?"

Kacchan stared at him. Slowly, he got up from his seat and stepped over to Izuku. Izuku clutched his book a little tighter in his hand. Kacchan reached up and smacked Izuku up the side of his head. "You are the smartest _idiot_ motherfucker I've ever fucking met in my life. I didn't say I was going to be your friend because I could help you test out your quirk. I told you I was going to be your friend _because you have a fucking quirk!_

"If we run out of tests then we'll do other shit. We've still got to figure out how to get it so you can use your quirk to help be a fucking hero with me, right? You're still a weak ass Deku so we have to fix that still." Kacchan shoved him on the shoulder and then grabbed the front of his clean shirt. "I'm only going to stop being your fucking friend if you go around acting all shitty and quirkless again. Got that?"

"Yeah, I get it," Izuku nodded. "Sorry, I just… I just… you know…"

"You're just a stupid shitty Deku, duh. Of course, you'd be stupid and shitty about this too," Kacchan said. He shoved Izuku's chest as he stepped back. "Come on, if we hurry home we can still get to watch the fucking All Might Power Hour tonight instead of the fucking rerun later."

Izuku brightened up. "I'll get my shoes on and we can go!"

* * *

Katsuki leaned against one of the bike racks by the park, his hands holding onto the sun warmed metal while Deku was off a few feet by the vending machines. He looked down at his watch, scowling, and then up at the sky. They still had plenty of time before they had to get back for the show, but he didn't want to miss any of the TV special and if Deku continued to take the long way home, Katsuki was going to have to ditch him pretty soon.

"Hey! Katsuki-kun!"

He looked up from his watch to see a pair of his classmates walking towards him. One, Tsubasa, stretched out a wing as well as a hand in a wave. There was another one, Kanbe, who held a skateboard under his arm, walking beside Tsubasa. The two of them greeted Katsuki with grins. "Here you are! We've been wondering where you were, man! We haven't seen you outside of class in forever!"

"Uh huh," Katsuki said. "So?"

"Well, we just thought maybe you'd gotten a girlfriend or something!" Tsubasa snickered, elbowing Kanbe in the side, "Since you totally vanished after Saeko-chan asked you to meet with her after school that one day!"

"Who?" Katsuki asked.

"Saeko-chan!" Kanbe said, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. "How can you not even know the name of your own girlfriend, Katsuki-kun!"

"Kacchan has a girlfriend?"

Deku, like the dumb little shit he was, had walked over after Kanbe and Tsubasa had decided to become nuisances. He held out a juice can for Katsuki, but his attention was on Kanbe. "I don't have a fucking girlfriend, what the fuck is wrong with all of you?" Katsuki said, snatching the drink from Deku and popping the tab.

Tsubasa and Kanbe proved themselves to be no smarter than Deku as they gaped at him and then Katsuki, from the Deku's empty and to the can Katsuki drank from.

"Uh," Kanbe gaped.

"Wha?" Tsubasa added unintelligently.

Deku popped open his own drink. "I was just asking, Kacchan. Maybe you had gotten a girlfriend before we became friends."

"Did you ever fucking see me with any stupid girls?" Katsuki snapped. "Huh? Why would I be with a stupid girl? All they do is cry and giggle and freak out over stupid little shit."

"But Saeko-" Tsubasa said quietly.

"I don't know who you're talking about," Katsuki said.

"Saeko-chan!" Kanbe exclaimed. He gestured with his hand as he spoke, "Her hair is about this long and she usually wears it in a ponytail on the side because of the ridges her quirk has on her skin. She asked you to meet her by the trees behind the school a couple of weeks ago!"

Katsuki blinked at him. Slowly, he said, "Ohhh. Shit. Yeah. That ugly bitch. I guess I remember."

"Saeko-chan isn't ugly!" Tsubasa said. His hands were tight fists at his side and there were spots of color that rose on her cheek. "Any guy would be happy to have her confess her interest in him! She's the sweetest, most amazing, kindest-"

Katsuki shut him up the fastest way he knew how. He stepped forward quickly and put his palm to Tsubasa's chest and shoved _hard_. Tsubasa staggered back, his wings flapping to keep his balance. "If you like her so much, go after her your own damn self. I don't have any time for any shitty bitch."

"Don't say that about Saeko-chan!" Tsubasa shouted when he'd caught his breath again. He lurched forward but Kanbe grabbed him by the arm and held him back. Katsuki narrowed his eyes as he stared at them. He flexed the fingers of his empty hand, readying it just in case he had to use a flash of his quirk to shut up the winged idiot and his skateboard counterpart.

"Kacchan?" Deku interrupted. He looked uneasily between them. "Our show is going to start soon…"

"And that's another thing!" Tsubasa said, though he didn't try to get any closer. "Why are you hanging out with Deku? Isn't he supposed to be stupid and shitty and useless?"

"Tsubasa has a point," Kanbe added, glaring at Deku. "You said not to hang out with Deku because he was a quirkless fuckup and anyone who was his friend was just as bad."

"Yeah, well things change," Katsuki said. He saw Deku tense up out of the corner of his eye but he wasn't a damn idiot. Until they understood Deku's weird death quirk completely, they had sworn not to tell anyone about it. "Deku lost some of his shittiness."

"You can't just fucking decide that on your own," Tsubasa said. He pointed accusingly at Katsuki, his wings trembling in the air behind himself with his overwhelming emotion. "You can't calle Saeko-chan ugly and shitty and then say Deku isn't anymore! That's so backwards. What the hell is going on, Katsuki-kun?"

"Kacchan and I are friends again," Deku said matter-of-factly. "I'm sorry about Saeko-chan, but she doesn't have anything to do with me." He looked askance, adding, "She doesn't even talk to me in class."

"No one talks to you in class," Kanbe said. "You're a quirkless loser."

The aluminum can crinkled a little in Deku's hand. He bit his lip hard enough to turn the skin of it white. Katsuki looked away from him and glowered at Kanbe and Tsubasa. That was all the shit he could handle from them. Shoving his can back into Deku's hand, Katsuki took a step towards his classmates. "First of all, Deku is my fucking friend now, you fuckwads and that means that I'm not going to stand you shit-talking him in front of me anymore. Second of all, that bitch just fucking threw her feelings all over the fucking place at me and expected me to give a shit about her when I don't even talk to her in class or anything. I didn't even know her damn name! And third of all, you had better fuck off right now because I don't give a single flying fuck what you think of me."

Katsuki lifted a hand palm up, fingers curled as if he held an invisible ball. His quirk popped into life like a crackle of firecrackers strung together. Tsubasa and Kanbe both flinched away from the sight and sound, "Compared to me, you're nothing. If you can't fucking remember that on your own, I'll gladly remind you."

"Kacchan!" Deku cried out, offended by Katsuki's threat. He stepped forward, as if to intercede. "Don't you hurt them!"

"Shut up Deku!" Tsubasa shouted, cutting Katsuki off. "We don't need you to save us. You can't even save yourself!" But he didn't step closer to fight with Katsuki. He held back, wings trembling even worse now as they hunched tight behind his shoulders.

Katsuki turned his glare to Kanbe, who immediately dropped his gaze and slid a half footstep back, tugging Tsubasa with him. They didn't apologize but Katsuki didn't care about that either. He heard enough apologies from Deku over meaningless shit. Even now he saw Deku about to apologize for causing a scene or some shit and he cut it off by turning to face him. "Come on, Deku. We're going to be late if we waste any more time on this stupid shit."

Deku looked at their classmates, frowning, but he ended up giving Katsuki back his drink and nodding.

The two of them walked off, Deku a few paces behind, before Katsuki reached back and shoved him up ahead. It took half a block to get Deku to snap out of his pensive thought and soon they were talking up a storm about All Might on their way back to Deku's house.

As he stepped inside, Deku said, with stars in his eyes, "It would be so great to meet All Might. I think I'd die out of sheer happiness."

Katsuki snorted at this and shoved him with his shoulder as he shoved past. "You'd have to do something pretty fucking spectacular for All Might to even notice you, shitrag. He's not even fucking in the city this year. There's no way you're ever going to meet him for real." He dropped his bag down beside Deku's with a soft thump.

"You can't be certain of that, Kacchan," Deku said with his stupid hopeful smile, "I was certain I didn't have a quirk and look how that turned out!" He waved his notebook in the air a little bit. "Maybe I can meet All Might! Maybe I can impress him!"

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Sure, Deku," He mocked, "You'll meet All Might when I need you to save me from a fucking villain, like _that'll_ ever happen" He held up his hands, "Haven't you seen my damn quirk? No one can stop me. Not even you." He walked further into the room, pointing at Deku as he made his way to the couch.

Deku gave him that green eyed stubborn look that Katsuki was quite familiar with, but the edge of it was dulled by the wide grin that split his face a moment later. "Fine. It's a deal. If I save you from a villain, we'll go meet All Might."

"We?" Katsuki scoffed. "Now you're not just dreaming, you're fucking delusional." He dropped down on the couch, stretching his legs out in front of himself. "Besides, I don't want to _meet_ him. I want to _beat_ him. I'm going to be the best fucking hero, the big number one. Better even than All Might."

Deku picked up the remote and sat down next to Katsuki on the couch. He turned on the TV, flipping through the channels as he said thoughtfully, "Even if you beat him, wouldn't it be nice to meet him first?"

Katsuki shrugged. "You can meet him for me."

Settling on the right channel, Deku glanced to Katsuki and gave him that weird little smile he got from time to time. Katsuki had never seen it before they started being friends so he didn't know what it meant yet. "Okay. I will. I promise."

Katsuki told him not to promise things he couldn't actually achieve and got shushed by Deku in the middle of his sentence as their program started up. He shut up but only after kicking Deku's leg. This caused Deku to pull his legs up onto the couch. In this way, they sat, watching All Might power through his enemies with a flashing smile and bulging muscles.

There was something a little odd about the show, something that nagged at the back of Katsuki's mind as he watched but he couldn't put his finger on it. He put the thought aside for now and just let himself sink into the show until he was as excitedly cheering All Might on as Deku was.

It was, as far as Katsuki considered, a pretty good end to a pretty busy day.

* * *

[part 3 of 3]


	4. Intermission: Blood Spatter

**Warnings: Blood, Death Mention**

* * *

 **Intermission: Blood Splatter**

 **Summary:** _Tsukauchi has a curious case: someone or something has been leaving bloody impacts around town. With no sign of a body, he can't even definitively call it a suicide. With no more trauma done than to the psyche of witnesses, he's not even sure he can call it much of a crime._

 _Still, he puts together some of the puzzle pieces just in case. In a city of quirk users, one never knows what will go from a cold, curiosity case to something relevant_ with _just one piece of new information._

* * *

 **Intermission: Blood Splatter**  
 _[In general, this is a bridge from where we left our boys to the next section, a few years later.]_

* * *

The lights of the police car flashed in cycles of red and blue all across the scene of the incident. It was otherwise nearing the twilight hour, making those sharp lights even more jarring as they slashed across the faces of those standing around the tracks.

"Detective Naomasa." The call was accompanied by a woman carefully jumping down from the track railing. The blue light was especially strange on her face, giving her grey-toned skin an eerie look as she dropped down and landed square on the gravel. It crunched under the soles of her boots and she carefully picked her way over to him.

Tsukauchi brushed a bit of gravel off of his knee as he rose from his position near the ground. "Hematess, welcome. I'm grateful you could make it." He made sure not to step around too much, although this meant he couldn't properly greet the heroine.

Hematess didn't seem to mind. She instead walked right up beside him and turned her attention to the mess on the ground. "Is this it?" She asked, looking around. "Is there anything else?"

Tsukauchi shook his head. "No. Just the blood. It's farther reaching than some of the previous scenes, but there's nothing but blood residue left behind."

Hematess crouched down onto the balls of her feet. She rubbed her bare fingers together and then reached down to touch the blood. Her skin glowed faintly from the use of her quirk. "Blood type O. Male." Lifting her fingers up, she put the tips in her mouth, licking off the blood. "Mmm."

Waiting patiently while she analyzed the blood, Tsukauchi let his gaze move over the ground in front of them. The train tracks were splattered with blood from one side to the other. There were droplets that went up to the nearby platform, where a few other cops were keeping the perimeter. He had to assume those came from the impact, though, as the train had hit the person or at least the container of blood at nearly fifty.

The platform had been shut down for the week previous to this incident, as there had been considerable damage from a villain recently and it needed reconstruction. Trains were passing through it at their regular speed, although Tsukauchi had reports that many slowed down at this stop out of instinct anyway.

The one from the night before had not. The driver was notorious for being hard on the gas, for being quick, to get where he needed to go on time the first time.

Tsukauchi frowned as he thought. His eyes stared vacantly at the pool of blood. It was both familiar and somewhat terrifying to see. He knew that this much blood loss meant certain death, and yet there were no body parts. Had someone simply placed a container of blood in the train's path? If so, wouldn't there be any residue of that? Rubber from a balloon or plastic from a drum?

Not only that, but this was only the recent scene in which there was this amount of blood and nobody to explain it.

Hematess stood up, breaking Tsukauchi from his thoughts. She pulled a cloth from a pocket in her suit and wiped the rest of the blood from her hand. "It's the same."

"What?" He asked, startled into speaking.

She gave him a quelling look and Tsukauchi ducked his head in apology. Folding her arms over her chest, Hematess looked at the pool of blood and gave her diagnosis. "The glucose and cholesterol levels are the same. There are no cancer markers and no significant quirk markers either. It has exactly the same profile as those samples you gave me before."

Tsukauchi gaped at her openly.

Hematess frowned at the blood. "There isn't a single bit of body at all? What about a container? Glass or a bag or something?"

"Nothing but the blood," Tsukauchi answered. "Just like the previous locations." He wanted to ask her if she was _absolutely_ sure of her analysis but knew better than to question her when she wore that expression of annoyed concentration.

"And how many have there been, five? Six?"

"Six, that we know of," Tsukauchi said, "There's no pattern to these. No accompanying statement. They just appear in random local first one was a Middle School, the second was an office building. The third was near the cliffs and the fourth and fifth were two other traffic incidents. This was the first train, however."

"Detective, Detective!" Called a familiar voice, interrupting their conversation.

Tsukauchi turned to see Sancha above them on the platform. "The conductor is able to speak with you now."

"Thank you. I'll be right up." He took a step towards Sancha before he had to stop. Hematess gripped his elbow in one hand. She stepped towards him and looked him right in the eye. Hematess's eyes weren't typical of a human's, just as her skin wasn't. The sclera was yellowed, making her looked permanently jaundiced. The irises were a piercing icy blue, like those of a hunting dog's.

"All six locations have the same blood," Hematess said, speaking slow and clear, enunciating her words. Her fingers held fast onto Tsukauchi's arm. "All. Six. And at each location, there has been a fatal amount of blood present. You brought me in to analyze it, Naomasa, and I'm telling you that not only is there any variation in the blood but there are no preservatives of any kind. This is new, freshly spilled blood. Do you understand me?"

"I do," he said.

"I don't know what you're looking for exactly," She said, "But when you find it. I want to see it too." Her gaze tore off his face and Tsukauchi felt a shiver run down his spine as she murmured. "I want to see what can bleed this much and walk away from death."

"I'll keep your number handy," Tsukauchi promised her. Hematess nodded and let go of his arm. He left her standing beside the pool of blood as he climbed back up onto the platform.

Sancha glanced from him to Hematess and back. "What did she say?"

"It's the same blood. We'll run a diagnostic in the lab as well but…" Tsukauchi shrugged, "She'll be right. She always is."

Sancha nodded. He turned and gestured over near the wall. "We finally got the conductor to stay put and calm down. He's got a bit of a vibration quirk that gets out of whack when he's emotional and he's damn upset about this one, sir."

"Yeah? I'm not surprised." Tsukauchi walked with Sancha towards the covered part of the platform. There was a heavy duty plastic curtain up for the construction and behind it was the conductor and another cop, speaking quietly. He lifted his hand in greeting to the other cop and murmured to Sancha before parting ways, "Keep an eye on Hematess, would you? Not close enough to bother her but just to watch out. Her interest has been piqued with this one and I want to know what she knows about it."

Sancha agreed and turned to go and obey. Tsukauchi greeted the cop with a nod of thanks and then to the conductor to get his story.

Standing and listening to Conductor Montaro, with carefully worded questions so as to provoke memory recovery and not construct a new story, Tsukauchi got the man's statement over the next forty-five minutes or so. He had his notepad out, taking down significant notes while the other cop held out a recorder to catch the entire statement.

Part of the story, as far as Montaro was concerned, went a little like this.

* * *

 **Montaro:** I was headed down the loop, runnin' at a normal clip. Nothing too fast, but not slowing down, you know? Why lose time when there's no reason to stop. The platform was boarded up and all the locals know that no one stops here and won't stop here for the next two weeks while they get everything fixed up.

 **Tsukauchi:** What speed would you say you were going?

 **Montaro:** No more than forty-five forty-eight miles per hour. Fast, but not _that_ fast.

 **Tsukauchi:** I understand. Please, continue.

 **Montaro:** So I'm headed down the track, my lights are on and the lights for the stop still turn on so I can see the way is perfectly clear, right. Nothing anywhere and I've got no distractions either. I'm settled in for the rest of the hour, easy as can be.

 **Montaro:** But just as hit the first corner of the platform, I see it. You know? I see this shape moving. It's white as a ghost, officer. I mean, I thought it was a ghost! Sometimes you see them out on the tracks, especially in places like this.

 **Tsukauchi:** What did the shape look like specifically?

 **Montaro:** Well, it had dark hair and white skin. But that might have been the glow of the lights, you know? I don't know. All I know is that I saw something white and black jump off the edge of the platform just as I went past. And splat.

 _There is the sound of a single sharp clap as Montaro slapped his hands together to demonstrate. In the air, his hands are visibly shaking. As he notices this, he lowers them quickly, rubbing them on his pants legs and then keeping them down by his side._

 **Montaro:** It hit the front of the train square on. The window was immediately red and, dear gods, I could see bits of him. Bits of white skin and bone I guess. He didn't wear a damn thing when he jumped. That's why he looked white. He was naked.

 **Tsukauchi:** You keep saying 'he'. What makes you think it was a male?

 **Montaro:** Sir, he hit the nose of my train without a scrap of cloth on him. Flat as a board and with a little bitty dick dangling there. And damn, I put on the brakes hard as I could but it was already too late. There was so much blood. So much… He hit the windshield like a damn bug. Splat.

 _Montaro is silent for a minute or two. He is looking towards the curtain, shaking his head a little. Tsukauchi is writing and then waiting._

 **Tsukauchi:** Was there anything else that you noticed?

 **Montaro:** Couldn't have been that old… Such a tiny damn thing. Hell. They get younger and younger every year.

 **Tsukauchi:** Who do?

 **Montaro:** What was that?

 **Tsukauchi:** Who gets younger every year?

 **Montaro:** The jumpers.

* * *

Stopping the recording prematurely, Tsukauchi sat on the edge of a table in the room where he and many of the other detectives would put up their current cases to better visualize them. Currently, he stared down the pinboard with the title of _Splatter Case_ written on paper and taped to the top.

Below that were pictures of six different sites and a list of what Tsukauchi knew for sure was true about each event.

Six locations.

 _A middle school._ The blood discovered in the morning by staff members after it had dried out into a dark red stain. Scraps of black cloth, perhaps from a uniform, found stuck in the dried blood. Attributed at first as an attempted suicide- but when all students were accounted for at the school the next day, it was set aside as a curiosity.

 _An office building._ The blood was discovered while tacky and somewhat fresh. A button found in the blood, but nothing else. At first, it was unconnected to the middle school event until it came out that both strange events likely happened on the same day within hours of each other. Was it a second attempt at a suicide after jumping off a middle school building was unsuccessful?

 _The cliffs by the sea._ Two witnesses to the fall, neither one to the impact. The first a woman out jogging on the sea and the second a boy out looking for shells or rocks. Blood was pooled in the tidal waves. No cloth or any other substance found.

 _The first traffic incident: a small car._ The least amount of blood. A drunk driver who remembers nothing. At first also unconnected until, on a hunch, the blood was compared to the previous strange cases. Paint transfer on the vehicle suggests that there was something else there- not another car but something smaller, perhaps a bike. No bike was found. No witnesses. Incident not discovered until several hours later.

 _The second traffic incident: a truck._ A handful of witnesses who saw someone step into traffic in front of the truck at a stoplight. The culprit was not identified but was seen to have dark hair and be somewhat short; a child? The truck blocked most of the view but the blood was left behind, again. Scraps of clothing left behind; unidentifiable.

And finally, _the train._

"Why was he _naked?"_ Tsukauchi asked himself. "Did he get there naked? Did he leave clothes to change into? Why bother saving the clothes if he's trying to get himself killed? If that is his true intention?"

A knock came at the open door. Tsukauchi looked over to see one of the other detectives. "Captain wants to see everyone. We got another Hero Killer Stain incident."

Tsukauchi closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He stepped off the table and headed to the door. "I'm on my way." There was nothing to put away for his Splatter case beyond the recording, which was on a device he slipped into his pocket.

Besides the traumatized witnesses, no one was ever hurt by the culprit, making the crime element of the case questionable. As he flicked off the light to the room, Tsukauchi had a feeling that this would be one of those curiosity cases that they talked about, never quite forgot, but never quite found the answer to either.

Tsukauchi grimaced. Hematess wouldn't like the sound of that.

* * *

[part 1 of 1]


	5. Exsanguination 1

SECTION TWO, HERE WE GO.

 **Warnings: Blood, Violence, Death, Casual Treatment of Death, Poor Judgement, Canon-Typical Vulgarity, Temporary Charachter Death, Dangerously Codependent Relationship**

* * *

 **Exsanguination: Summary**

 _Two years after discovering Izuku's quirk, Katsuki and Izuku have grown close during their long hours spent experimenting._

 _As the entrance exam for Yuuei approaches, they decide it's time to stop slacking and time to get Serious about preparing. Izuku has a long way to go before either one of them thinks he's ready, but, along with some unexpected help, both boys are determined to do anything they have to in order to pass..._

* * *

 **Exsanguination: 1 belief  
** _if you believe; you shall not fail_

* * *

"This is really a great gift, Kacchan," Izuku marveled over the short knife in his hand. The blade was barely longer than two inches, but for its purpose, Izuku didn't need much length. The blade flicked out with an easy push of a button, though it was a bit tougher to slide away with one hand. "Thank you a lot!"

Katsuki shrugged. His expression was entirely too smug, though. "Waiting for you to fucking bleed out like you did the other afternoon is kind of shitty. This way if you get a wound like that again you can just go for your jugular and end it quick." He mimicked the motion of slicing the vein on the neck with one hand, his fingers brushing past his exposed skin with a quick gesture. "You should probably wear more red or black shirts, though. Remember last time?"

Izuku laughed sheepishly. "That was an accident, though."

"So was the gut thing," Katsuki said.

"That was not an accident," Izuku said. "You totally meant to do that."

As they joked with each other, they entered a pedestrian walkway underneath a road. Izuku held the sheathed blade in his hand, not at all concerned with it, as Katsuki shoved his shoulder, grinning.

Just after the midway point of the walkway, Izuku heard a slick plopping sound and stopped mid-step to look around. "Kacchan?" he asked, "Did you hear-"

"Ah!" A voice said from behind them, "Two for the price of one!"

The boys turned around at the same moment. A mountainous blob of sludge with a face loomed in the darkness behind them. It sprang just as they looked up at it. Katsuki let out a shout, blossoms of fiery explosions blooming from his hands while Izuku threw his hands up to keep them from getting entangled in the muck. The sludge villain cackled as he slung ropes of muck around them and dragged them deeper and deeper.

Izuku heard Katsuki's voice give out to a choked garble a second before the sludge creature attacked his own face.

The sensation of suffocation was an incredibly familiar one to Izuku. He'd drowned and suffocated so often that he could hold his breath far longer than many other students his age. Not even Katsuki could hold his breath as long.

Which is why, instead of scrambling to pull himself free of the muck, Izuku lurched to the side. He grabbed Katsuki by the hair with his free hand and using the knife in his other hand, slashed at the muck that bound Katsuki's head to the villain. The sludge monster bellowed and snarled along with its stupid taunting- Izuku didn't bother listening to it when his lungs were burning for air and he knew he had to get Katsuki to freedom. It didn't matter if the villain suffocated Izuku once or a dozen times- ten seconds after being exposed to air again and he'd come popping right back.

There were tears in his eyes as the sludge constricted his airflow, but when Izuku heard Katsuki's gasp for breath, he grinned anyway.

"Get the fuck off you fucking piece of shit, what the fuck!" Katsuki immediately started to shout, and swear, and struggle and fight. He pulled and scratched at the sludge, but it only kept his limbs entangled. Izuku, deep in the sludge, wedged himself between the body of it and Katsuki, preventing Katsuki from being fully absorbed. He closed one eye as sludge came half over his face. His other looked out towards Katsuki.

"Get off of him! Get off!" Katsuki shouted. His next string of curses was cut off as sludge filled Izuku's ears as well. He couldn't breathe, couldn't stop the muck from filling his mouth and nostrils. Struggling became more and more difficult.

He distantly felt something pressing against his side. With that last inch of visibility, Izuku saw Katsuki pushing himself back and off, freeing a shoulder, then an arm, and lighting up the tunnel with an explosion. It was his shoes that were digging into Izuku's side, the heel of them crushing into the soft tissue as he pushed off of Izuku to keep himself free.

Izuku succumbed to darkness with full confidence in Katsuki. Every time they'd gotten in a bind, Katsuki had been there with him and they'd always managed to get out together. As long as Izuku was the one to die and not Katsuki, Izuku had nothing to fear at all.

* * *

Fighting free of the sludge was like fighting free of a tar pit. Every time Katsuki managed to pull one hand free, he lost the use of his other one. He couldn't see any part of Izuku anymore, not even one of his dumb red shoes. That didn't matter, though. What mattered was that the villain was intent on absorbing both of them. Katsuki set off explosions against that gelatinous body, but the sludge villain wasn't flammable.

"Die! Die! Die!" Katsuki shouted. His hand was pulled in just as he activated his quirk, splattering sludge outwards as a bubble formed inside of the body. With a grin, Katsuki shoved his hand in as a fist and then opened it inside of the sludge. "Die, you motherfucker, die!" He activated his quirk as powerfully as he could.

The resulting explosion knocked him half out of the sludge monster, ripped a hole in its side that dripped black ichor that Katsuki would bet was the villain's blood and exposed part of Izuku again to the air. Katsuki didn't hesitate. He lunged in again, both hands as fists, prepare to explode the hell out of this villain when he was snatched out of the air by an impossibly strong grip and pulled out of the remaining tethers of the sludge.

Katsuki snarled at his rescuer, twisting around to hurl insults when he recognized that strong jaw and sparkling smile.

"All Might," he gasped as said hero set him gently down on the concrete a few steps away. "It's you."

"Don't worry my boy!" All Might declared, "You have nothing to fear now that I am here!" He sprang towards the sludge villain, who slurched back along the ground in an attempt to escape. Katsuki watched as All Might blue away a large part of the sludgy mass, leaving behind only the barest sentient pieces behind.

And Izuku, free of sludge and unconscious on the ground.

Izuku's appearance seemed to surprise All Might, making his smile falter when he noticed him.

Katsuki scrambled up and over, dropping to his knees beside Izuku. He saw the knife was still clutched tightly in one hand. He reached for Izuku's neck, checking for his pulse, and didn't find one yet.

"Haha!" the sludge villain cried from his puddle of goop on the ground. His voice was tinny and high pitched now that he was incredibly small, "You might have defeated me, but at what cost! This boy has now lost his best friend!"

Katsuki looked up, a snide remark on his tongue, when he saw All Might's expression. There was a brief flicker of anger, of grief, before he gave the sludge villain a smile that looked more like a threat than anything else.

"Deku's fine," Katsuki said, rolling Izuku off his back and onto his side. He knew how to do this. He'd seen Izuku drown a half dozen times at least. "But you're fucking dead, asshole." Katsuki started to rise from his knees when All Might stepped forward and laid a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"No, young man, allow me. Tend to your friend for now."

Katsuki scowled but sank back down. He let All Might scoop up the villain into a bottle. Izuku hadn't come back yet so Katsuki pried open his mouth and reached in with his fingers to help scoop out some of the black muck. He got his fingers in far enough that Izuku's gag reflex kicked in. That was all Katsuki needed to know that his friend was coming back to life.

Izuku coughed and gagged up the sludge, curled up on his side like a pillbug would be. Katsuki scooted back so that he didn't get any of the vomit or sludge on his clothes. All Might came over and crouched down on Izuku's other side. The sludge monster was contained in a green soda bottle, his eyes and mouth distorted by the color and shape of the plastic.

"Hey, Deku," Katsuki said, thumping his friend on the back, "Get up. All Might is here."

Izuku's head popped up. There was sludge dripping from his chin that he wiped off with the back of one hand. He pushed himself onto his knees. All Might supported him with one hand while Katsuki smirked.

Izuku's eyes bugged out of his head as huge as could be when he saw that it really was All Might. "It's you!" He choked out, "It's really you!"

As was pretty typical, Izuku didn't pay any sort of attention that he'd just come back to life. He instead scrambled for his backpack, "Can I- If it's not too much trouble- Can I have your autograph, sir? Please?"

"Why of course!" All Might said, "A pair of brave boys like you certainly deserve an autograph after all that!"

Katsuki reached for their bags and dragged over Izuku's. Izuku tore into it and brought out their most recent notebook full of their expermiment data. He flipped open to an empty page and held it up. "Thank you!" Izuku cried, "I'm your number one fan!"

"He totally is," Katsuki said, "And I'm your number two fan. It's the only thing Deku is better at than me."

Izuku didn't even blink at the comment, though All Might gave Katsuki that same sort of troubled look that Katsuki got from Izuku's mom when he said things like that. "Ah. Well. I'll sign it for my number one fan, Deku."

"And Kacchan," Izuku insisted, "Sign it for Kacchan too!" Izuku's face was alight as he turned towards Katsuki. There were stars in his eyes and he was so excited it was almost possible to ignore the bit of sludge that stuck to his cheek and chin still. "Can you believe it? We got saved from a villain by All Might!"

"I could've done it without him," Katsuki said. "You kept my arms free long enough that I figured out how to fuck him up. A few more seconds and that fucker would have been fucking dead as shit." He reached out and ruffled Izuku's hair. Izuku laughed and rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He didn't mind that Katsuki got a bit more touchy after seeing Izuku come back from the dead- at least, as far as Katsuki could tell.

"Still, it's All Might," Izuku said. He turned a worshipful gaze onto the man. Katsuki looked up too, to see the hero smiling down at them, notebook in hand. It was a bit of a bemused smile and for the first time, Katsuki noticed that All Might wasn't in his costume but in regular clothing.

"I'm glad you both made it out okay," All Might said. He handed back Izuku's notebook, which was promptly clutched to Izuku's chest like an heirloom. He got to his feet, which sent Izuku scrambling up as well.

"All Might, we're going to be heroes just like you one day!" Izuku cried out. "We're going to enroll in Yuuei and become the top heroes! So watch for us in the future, okay?"

All Might stood with his hands on his hips. "Well all right!" He let out his booming laughter, "I look forward to seeing your quirks in action in the future!"

Katsuki scoffed. "Deku doesn't have a quirk." He brushed himself off. "But mine is plenty strong for the both of us."

"You don't have a quirk?" The hero looked down at Izuku, actually surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah. But I can be a hero without one, right Kacchan?" Izuku said, glancing to Katsuki. Katsuki nodded. Turning back around, Izuku declared, "Kacchan believes in me, All Might. I can be a hero if he believes in me!"

"But without a quirk…" All Might's voice drifted off. He looked at the sludge that was dripping from a portion of the wall nearby and then cleared his throat. "You had better not try to be a hero without a quirk, Deku my boy. I would not- I would not advise it."

"I'm sorry," Katsuki said, stepping forward, "Did you just say Deku couldn't be a fucking hero? You? Are you fucking with me right now?" He clapped his hand down on Izuku's shoulder. Izuku was tense, his shoulders hunched. He made those wet sounds with each breath that belied the tears that he refused to shed. "Deku helped me with that villain before you got here. Deku's the reason I would have killed that son of a bitch even if you didn't show up to save the day."

"Kacchan," Izuku said, but there was a hitch in his voice as he spoke, "Don't be rude to All Might. He saved your life."

"I can handle my own saving," Katsuki snapped, "Besides the only one who is allowed to help me is you, idiot." He slapped Izuku upside the head. Izuku didn't even flinch, but his tears did start to fall.

"Kacchan…"

"Ah, I must go!" All Might said suddenly, "I should take this villain to the police immediately!"

"But All Might-" Izuku began in vain. All Might dashed out from the passageway and leaped into the air. Izuku was left looking after him, sniffling and wiping his hand across his face. He coughed and then spat out muck on the ground.

Looking to Katsuki, Izuku said, "All Might thinks I can't be a hero." Tears dripped down his cheeks like the little crybaby he was but Katsuki was as good at ignoring them as Izuku was.

"Lots of people don't think you can be a hero," Katsuki said, "Your doctor. Your mom. My parents probably. Everyone at school. That's because they don't know the truth, Deku." He stooped down and picked up the knife that Izuku had dropped in his fumbling for his notebook out of his bag.

Straightening up, he held out the knife hilt first to Izuku. "You don't need them. You don't need their approval. You don't even need them to know what your quirk is. Especially since your quirk is so fucking special."

Izuku took the knife, clutching it in one hand and his notebook in the other. "But Kacchan…"

Katsuki put his hands on Izuku's shoulders and shook him. "You don't need anyone else because you got me, Deku. Your quirk works perfectly with mine. Remember? No matter what I fucking do, no matter how big my explosion is, your quirk brings you back. We're perfect partners."

Izuku sniffled and nodded. "And we're going to go to Yuuei together?"

"Obviously," Katsuki replied. He stepped back and looked Izuku over, "But I noticed something when we were fighting that sludge bastard. You're weak as a fucking noodle, Deku."

Izuku laughed weakly, "I should probably fix that."

"Definitely," Katsuki said.

"I'll look up training regimens when I get home tonight," Izuku said. He picked up his bag and put his notebook back inside of it. He smiled faintly at the knife before sliding it into his pocket. "And I'll look up getting a strap-on holder for my knife. I probably won't be able to carry it in a pocket all the time."

Katsuki nodded. Together, they headed back out. "You can base some of your training off of mine. I need to kick mine up so I can for sure get into Yuuei, you know?" Their voices trailed off as they walked, discussing training and the Yuuei test and some of their experiments.

* * *

"Oh! Toshinori," Tsukauchi said with a smile as his friend came walking in. Toshinori pulled a bottle from his pocket and held it out. He was skeletal in appearance and so their conversation went unnoticed by the others who passed by them in the main hall to the police task force room.

"Here. I picked this one up on my way out to the store." Toshinori handed over the bottle. There was a thick liquid inside with eyes and a mouth that leered out through the green plastic. "I found it attacking a couple of teenagers in a pedestrian underpass."

"Great job," Tsukauchi said, "How are the kids? Do we need to send anyone out to them?" He took the bottle and turned it over, looking inside. After checking that the lid was secure, he tucked it away into a jacket pocket to deal with after their conversation.

"They're, ah, fine, I suppose," Toshinori said, rubbing his chin. "A little intense. Kids become bolder and bolder every year I suppose."

"That they do. I'm glad to hear that everyone turned out okay." He gestured for Toshinori to step into a nearby room, "If you have a moment, I'd like to talk to you about something that's been on my mind."

"Actually," Toshinori said, shaking his head. "I've… I've got something I need to attend to. We'll have to catch up a little bit later, my friend. I do apologize."

The expression he wore was a surprisingly dark one. Out of worry, Tsukauchi asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, no, I'm afraid that I just… I said something I should not have in my haste and surprise." Toshinori sighed, frowning. He stepped away, looking anxious to go, "I really should go and see if I can fix this mistake. Another time, Tsukauchi." And with that, he hurriedly left.

Tsukauchi blinked after him. Toshinori saying something he regretted? Toshinori? Tsukauchi had never met a kinder or more generous man. "Huh. Odd." With a shake of his head to clear his thoughts, Tsukauchi walked away.

He had a villain to process and a heroine to get off his case. Two years was too long for an old curiosity case to remain open- no matter how interesting the bloodwork looked in the lab. There had been nothing new in over eighteen months. It was time to close it and set it aside. He was just going to have to make that clear to Hematess one way or another.

* * *

[Part 1 of 6]


	6. Exsanguination 2

**Exsanguination 2: promise**  
 _your word is your bond_

* * *

In the gray of early morning, the air was cool and grass was slick with dew. Birds sang and chirped to each other. The occasional car drove slowly down the streets, ferrying people to and from work.

Izuku jogged down the sidewalk at a steady pace. The slap of his feet hitting the concrete and of his panting breaths filled the air as he started his morning exercise with his run. Most mornings, Katsuki accompanied him and the two would jog up, around and back down through the neighborhood on their long route.

However, today was Sunday and Katsuki had texted Izuku that he was opting out that morning because he didn't feel well. It was strangely lonely, running without Katsuki at his side. They didn't talk on their runs, but Izuku was used to the company.

He was in the middle of mentally making plans of visiting Katsuki, possibly with a food gift to help him feel better, when something, or rather someone, caught his attention.

Izuku slowed to a stop, breath coming in pants and he rubbed his eyes with his fist. "All Might?"

The Pro Hero stood in front of Izuku with his fists on his hips and his chest puffed out. "I've been looking for you, young Deku! There is something that I need to speak about privately with you!"

Fearless and trusting, Izuku nodded his head, "Okay!" He smiled up at his hero and obediently followed when All Might guided him off to the side to speak. He couldn't wait to tell Katsuki that All Might had come and found him, to specifically talk to him.

* * *

"Katsuki! Get up!"

The door swung open with a bang. Katsuki groaned and rolled over in his bed.

"Cut it out with that moaning and groaning. I took your temperature earlier, you aren't that sick," his mother said, "And your little friend is here to say hi. So get up and get the fuck out of bed!"

"Fuck off you old hag," Katsuki said, grabbing his pillow and folding it over his head. "And tell Deku to fuck off too! I said I'm not fucking going out this morning he knows that!"

"He came all this way to see you, Katsuki," Haruka said, walking in. She threw open the curtains on Katsuki's windows and let in the light. "Your father and I have somewhere to be this morning so you have to play host to your friend. Up and at'em!" She crossed over to Katsuki's bed, aiming to grab his blankets. Katsuki glared up at her and curled up tighter in his blankets to prevent her from pulling them off.

"Excuse me, Auntie," Izuku's voice chirped up from the door. Katsuki grumbled and hunched deeper in his bedding. "It's okay if he stays in bed! I just have something to tell him really quick! And then I'll go so he can sleep."

Haruka stopped and sighed. "You're too nice to him. He needs to stop being lazy and get out of bed." Walking over, she ruffled Izuku's hair and smiled, "If he pulls anything you let me know and I'll get after him later, all right?"

"Okay," Izuku said, ducking his head. He shut the door after Haruka left.

"Close the damn blinds," Katsuki said, hunkering under his pillow a little more. "It's too damn bright out."

"Okay," Izuku did that. The room dimmed significantly, but not enough that they were in total darkness. Katsuki opened up when that happened, pulling the pillow back and looking over to see Izuku.

It didn't seem to matter at all that the sunlight was blocked. Izuku's face was lit up with his smile as he all but bounced over from the window to the bed. He climbed onto the bed without asking permission, and though that startled Katsuki a little, it really told him just how excited his friend was.

Izuku sat right at his side, hands clasped together, "I met him again, Kacchan. I met All Might again this morning!"

"Eh?" Katsuki sat up a little, pushing himself up with one elbow. He hated sitting unequally to Izuku. "Did you fucking get in trouble with some dipshit or something?"

"No! No no no no," Izuku shook his head, "He came and found me while I was on my run! He wanted to talk to me." Izuku's eyes were filled with sparkles as he looked off into his memories. "He apologized to me, for saying that I couldn't be a hero without a quirk."

Katsuki snorted. He sat up fully, leaning against the headboard. The process pulled him away from Izuku, but Izuku quickly closed that distance. He scooted closer until their knees were touching. "So what? He shouldn't have said that to you in the first place. Wait," He glared, "Did you fucking tell him about your death quirk?"

"No! No of course not. That's our secret," Izuku said, leaning in. "We promised, remember?"

"Duh. So tell me what else happened."

"He apologized and he told me that he had forgotten something important," Izuku said, explaining quickly. This was one of the things that Katsuki didn't mind so much and kind of liked, actually. Izuku might be long winded but he was quick with it. Plus, watching the way he chattered animatedly wasn't so bad. Katsuki had seen that face lifeless so many times that seeing it burning with life was always nice.

"When he came to our rescue with the sludge monster, he didn't expect it to be any different than usual. Even us telling him we were going to become heroes is apparently pretty common with some of his younger fans! But when we told him I was quirkless he said I shouldn't be a hero because a pro hero always puts their life on the line.

"So I told him that I understood that, you know? When the sludge thing was going after us, I knew it could have killed you! I had to save you, Kacchan, I couldn't let it suffocate you!

"I think I impressed him by telling him about that- about saving you even though I didn't have a quirk! Maybe he thought it was more impressive because saving you would have saved us both. You know? Like, I told him that you said your bombs were blowing the sludge off of me and you had just about saved me yourself.

"Anyway, he said that I was what he was looking for. Someone who was selfless, someone who reminded him what it was to be a selfless hero." Izuku paused and took a deep breath. "Kacchan, All Might said that I could inherit his power."

There was a heartbeat of silence. "What?" Katsuki asked, "How?"

"I don't know," Izuku whispered, eyes wide, "But he said that if I do my best, he could pass his power to me. Pass his quirk to me." He leaned in reaching for Katsuki with both hands shaking. "Do you understand what this means, Kacchan? All Might said his quirk was like a torch that gets carried from one person to the next."

Katsuki reached up and took Izuku's hands to prevent him from grabbing Katsuki by the shoulder and shaking. Izuku's fingers tightened around his.

"He can give you a quirk? His quirk? But… but how?"

"One for all," Izuku whispered. "He called it one for all. It's a quirk that one person was born with and they cultivated it and passed it down. It's a quirk that transfers from one person to another and he wanted to give it to me."

"What did you tell him?" Katsuki whispered back, "Did you take it?"

Izuku nodded. His grip was so tight his knuckles were white. "Please don't be mad, Kacchan. I just want to be strong like you. Please. I want us to be equals for real, not just because you say." There was a shine to his eyes, tears that threatened to fall. Katsuki was familiar with the sight. Undying or not, Izuku was still a crybaby.

"We'll stay together as partners, won't we?" Katsuki asked. "If you have his power, you have to stay my partner anyway. That was the promise. You have a quirk and I'll be your friend."

"This way, everyone will know I have a quirk." Izuku said, "Everyone will understand why we're together. We don't have to tell them about the death quirk at all."

Katsuki relaxed a little. "So what's it like? Having All Might's quirk?"

"I don't have it yet." Izuku sighed. He too relaxed, though he didn't let go of Katsuki yet. "He said my body would rip apart if I just took his quirk as I am now. I have to train even harder than I already was."

"Huh. He might have a point. We haven't been able to do any tests with you getting blown apart from the inside. We don't know what happens if you turn into little scraps." Katsuki said, thoughtful and quiet, "The worst we could do was take off limbs."

"And we know I don't heal without dying," Izuku said. "The best way to hide my power from everyone, including All Might, will be to master his power so it doesn't ruin me the first time I use it. We've got to be safe."

Katsuki nodded. He could only imagine the uproar if people found out that Izuku could come back from death. He'd heard his mother and father discuss their research plenty of times at the table. Izuku's quirk was incredibly powerful. Having All Might's quirk on top of it would certainly protect him from getting in over his head.

"Kacchan?"

Blinking, Katsuki looked up. He'd been staring absently at their hands as he thought. "What?"

"Thank you, for being my friend," Izuku said quietly, "And for training with me before this and, and for believing in me. I know you do it because I have a quirk now but… I always wanted to be a hero and I always wanted to be at your side and now with my undying quirk and All Might's power, I'll never leave you. Ever."

His green eyes were intense and focused right on Katsuki. It hit Katsuki with a wave of deja-vu. He'd seen Izuku look that somber, that serious, that prepared before, but the image wasn't quite right.

Letting go of Izuku's hands, he put his hands lightly on Izuku's throat. That was it. He could see it now. Izuku had looked at him this same way when he'd trusted Katsuki to hold him down under the water in the pool. Those same crystal green eyes. That same serious expression.

"That's right," Katsuki whispered. He felt as though if he spoke any louder, that moment would shatter like a new layer of frost. "You'll never leave me and I'll never leave you. I promise."

Izuku put one of his hands on top of Katsuki's and smiled. "I promise too."

* * *

[Part 2 of 6]


	7. Exsanguination 3

**Exsanguination 3: Concern**  
 _we worry, worry, worry; but things are going fine_

* * *

From dawn until dusk, the next few months of Izuku's life was consumed with three things: Training, Classes and Kacchan.

All Might's training sessions were slotted in as frequently as possible. He had to work to build every muscle up to its fullest potential. Even his nutrition was adjusted for this, making mealtimes more important now than they had ever been before. Izuku shared the plan with Katsuki who tweaked it a little to fit his own level so that they could spend some of that time training together.

Their morning jogs became longer- they became a common sight outside in the morning before school and afterwards. Katsuki had his own strength training he did on his own, as Izuku's was quite unique. All Might had instructed Izuku to clear the beach of junk and both boys knew if Katsuki helped, it would only be a detriment to Izuku in the long run.

That isn't to say that Katsuki was never there- he simply didn't participate in clearing off the beach. He did things a little way off, using the natural weight of the junked items for his lifting.

Sometimes, All Might would be there, watching out for Izuku while he trained. Most of the time, though, he left the boys to their own devices and was able to work with Izuku only for an hour or two every few days.

One of these times on their own, Katsuki stood on top of a stack of broken appliances. The chest freezer he was on had half buckled under the weight of the fridge and the washing machine on top. He had mounted this stack while he was taking a small break to drink some water and check on Izuku.

Izuku was below, lifting up tires one by one with a grunt. Katsuki watched for a bit, eyeing his friend's form. "Oi," he shouted, "Bend your damn knees, Deku. I know you don't have to worry about getting old like the rest of us fuckers, but it's good for your joints."

"Oh. Okay." Izuku grunted, squatting to pick up the next tire. He carried it off, huffing for breath each step. When he came back over to the pile, he looked up at Katsuki, "Hey, how's your workout going?"

"Fine." Katsuki said, "I'm done with my shoulders and I'm gonna work a little lower. Here." He put a lid on his water and held it out. Izuku caught the bottle as he dropped it and drank from it. "Go ahead and finish it, I brought more."

"Thanks." Izuku drained the bottle. He crushed it up into a small ball when he was done and hefted it in the air. Turning, he tossed it in a high arc to the place where he was taking all the trash to. It bounced once, twice and landed near the pile. "Good enough," Izuku said. He'd fix it with the next tire he brought over.

"Hey Kacchan?" Izuku asked, looking up at his friend. Katsuki was looking down over the edge of his stack, deciding where to land when he jumped down.

"Yeah, what?"

"Want to do an experiment?"

There was a pause as Katsuki took a moment to remember what Izuku meant. They hadn't done a proper experiment in weeks. "What? Right here?"

Izuku pointed to the fridge Katsuki was braced against. "We haven't done a proper crushing attempt."

"We tried with that tree, before," Katsuki said, looking at the fridge himself. "But it only got your legs."

"Well this time you don't have to blow it up to knock it over and we're not on the mountainside," Izuku said. "You just have to push that over. Here. I'll get in position."

He walked over below the pile, eyeballing the trajectory. When he was satisfied, he pulled off his shirt and unstrapped the small knife he had attached to his wrist. Wrapping his shirt around the knife, he tucked them into a tire to protect them from the blood splatter.

"You're going to ruin your damn pants," Katsuki said, "Are you cool with that?"

"Aim for more of my chest and head, if you can." Izuku said, "It doesn't really matter, though. I brought spare pants for after I go swimming."

"Smart," Katsuki said. He braced his shoulder against the fridge and gave it a test shove. It rocked precariously on the washing machine. "Who the fuck even stacked this shit like this? It's so damn dangerous. This could've fallen and crushed fucking anyone. Damn assholes."

"Okay, Kacchan!" Izuku called, spreading his arms out, "I'm ready! Go ahead and push!"

Katuski pushed against the fridge. The metal creaked as it slid forwards slowly. He grunted and shoved harder. The soles of his shoes squeaked on the freezer lid he stood on. He pulled back, felt the whole stack begin to rock and then threw his weight into pushing again.

All at once, the weight was gone, as the fridge reached its tipping point and began to fall. The weight and position pushed the washing machine backwards. The top corner of it clipped Katsuki in the side, winding him briefly and making him stumble to the side. He windmilled his hand for a moment before using a burst of his quirk to keep himself from falling off the freezer.

During Katsuki's struggle, he didn't hear the telltale wet popping sound or crunch that he was familiar with. There was no impact of the fridge onto Izuku at all. In fact, when he looked over, he saw the fridge being held up. To his surprise, the fridge rose and then was tossed aside like an aluminum bottle.

Katsuki bit back a curse as he recognized All Might, standing between him and Izuku with one hand above his head and the other holding Izuku out of harm's way. Izuku looked like he'd been slapped, staring bug-eyed at All Might.

All Might looked right at Katsuki with an expression of mixed surprise and disappointment. The expression cut deeper than any Katsuki had gotten from his parents or teachers. He flinched back, opening his mouth to explain what he'd been doing when All Might spoke instead.

"I know you are eager to help your friend reach his full potential, young man, but what you just did was incredibly dangerous." All Might's characteristic smile was gone, giving his chiseled face a grim expression. "He is not capable of supporting the weight of a fridge, nor can he catch one and survive the impact. A pro hero thinks through his actions and does whatever he can to protect innocent civilian life. If that is your future, you must learn to live by that code now."

Guilt sat uneasily in Katsuki's gut, but it didn't rest there long. Indignation rose up and put fire in his veins. All Might didn't know what he was fucking talking about. He didn't know that Izuku wasn't like any citizen. Hell, Izuku was barely an innocent with the way he looked at death as a minor inconvenience! Katsuki's fists tightened at his sides as he bit his tongue to keep from lashing out.

One word about Izuku's death quirk and there was no way that All Might would willingly give over his own. He thought Izuku was quirkless. Why would anyone give someone else a second quirk?

Instead, Katsuki nodded his head sharply, clenching his teeth and looking away.

"I'm sorry, All Might," Izuku said quietly. "It was my idea. Kacchan didn't want to do it."

"Midoriya, my boy, I know that I told you a pro hero's life is always on the line, but this is not what I was talking about. You need to be more careful. How can you continue to save others if you're too injured to do so?"

Katsuki ignored their chatter. He jumped down from the freezer. A flash of pain jolted out from his side and he winced as he landed lower down on the pile. Picking his way off, he interrupted Izuku's Apology Hour and said, "Oi, Deku, I'm going the fuck home now that your mentor is here. Fucking catch you later, shitrag."

Izuku nodded, biting his lower lip in worry. I'm sorry, he mouthed, from where All Might couldn't see him.

Katsuki shrugged it off and headed away. He knew that All Might was anxious whenever he was around. Katsuki figured it was because he didn't know that Izuku had told Katsuki everything about One For All already. As he left, he could hear Izuku agreeing to whatever All Might was saying about his training.

It irked him to have to be the one to leave, but he did have homework and his mother had been giving him a strange look now and again ever since Izuku had all but jumped onto his bed to talk about All Might before.

In fact, she gave him that look again when he came home, scowling and in a worse mood than before he'd left. She was working on her laptop in the living room when he entered the room.

"Oh?" She asked with an arch of her brow. "No Izuku?" Haruka glanced at the wall and clicked her tongue, "Don't you usually have another two hours of Izuku-time before you come back home?"

"Shut up you old hag," Katsuki snapped. "Deku's fucking busy and I wanted to take a fucking bath."

"Alone?" She asked with her other brow lifting.

"What's that supposed to fucking mean?" Katsuki asked, halfway to his bedroom door. He glared hard at his mother, more than a little confused by that weird tone of hers.

"What the fuck do you think it means?" Haruka countered. "You don't think it's a bit strange for a couple of teen boys to still be bathing together regularly?"

"No." Katsuki said even as he gripped the strap to his bag tightly. Was it really that strange? He'd been doing it since they had become friends again. At first, it was so they could privately talk about experiments together and then it just became a habit. Any place where they could reliably be left alone was a good place, a safe place, a place where Katsuki could just relax for a moment. He trusted Izuku not to make a nuisance of himself when it really mattered. "No. It's not strange. That's what friends fucking do."

"Is that what you do with all your friends at school? Do you all bathe together there too?"

"What? No." Katsuki shook his head, "Where would we even- Why would we fucking- They're not even my friends at school. Fucking hell, Mom, why does this shit fucking matter?"

Again, Haruka gave him that weird look. Katsuki felt his cheeks begin to burn and his palms begin to sweat. He wanted to wipe them down and flee. He inched closer to his bedroom door. "No reason," she said, which Katsuki knew was a goddamn lie. He fucking hated it when she did that. "Go and take your bath, Katsuki."

Katsuki bit his tongue for the second time that afternoon, this time stopping himself from saying Inko doesn't lie to Izuku, why do you lie to me? But he knew why. She thought she knew better just because she was an adult- because she was his mother. She didn't fucking know anything, though, and just to spite her, he stomped off to his room and didn't go take a bath.

* * *

"I should have guessed," Were the words of greeting that Haruka gave to Izuku when he showed up on the front steps to the Bakugou household. She propped a fist on her hip and said, "Are you staying for dinner, kid? Or are you just here to work on homework?"

"Uh," Izuku blinked. "Yes?" He had his backpack slung over his shoulder, but then again, he always had his bag with him. Spare clothes were kind of important when a high speed impact could happen and ruin your clothes. He didn't want to trouble his mother with split seams or missing buttons so back up clothes were necessary. Other than that, his bag carried his most recent notebook of experiments- and his training regimen.

Izuku didn't come over to do homework at Katsuki's anymore- not when it was more peaceful and the snacks were better at his own place.

Besides, most of his work could be done during the study period in his classes. Had to be done there, actually, so he could get enough time in to train.

Haruka looked disbelievingly at him but stepped back anyway. "He's in his room. Waiting for you, probably."

"Uh. Thank you. Sorry for the intrusion." Izuku ducked his head, shucked his shoes and hurried to Katsuki's room.

He knocked and immediately the door swung in. Katsuki glared at him and pulled him in. "There you are, what fucking took you so long?"

"Sorry Kacchan," Izuku said, dropping his bag by the door. "All Might was really worried after the fridge thing. He kept… asking weird questions."

"Weird questions?" Katsuki asked, dragging Izuku by the wrist towards his bed to sit down. He sat on the end and Izuku sat beside him. "Like what?"

"He thought you were trying to actually hurt me and stuff," Izuku said nervously, tucking his legs up under himself. He didn't look up, couldn't look up and meet Katsuki's gaze. "He kept asking about our friendship and asking if I thought it was … normal or something?"

"Ugh," Katsuki grunted. "He sounds like my mother but worse. She fucking pounced on me about you being around all the time again." His grip on Izuku's arm was warm and solid. Izuku reached down with his other hand and ran his fingertips over Katsuki's knuckles. They weren't nearly as rough as the callouses on his hands, but he liked the texture of them anyway.

Katsuki huffed in annoyance and leaned his shoulder against Izuku's. "It's better being at your place. Your mom doesn't ask weird fucking questions about us being best friends."

"She's just happy that you're nice to me. And nice to her." Izuku said quietly. "She used to ask me every day if you had hurt me and she was alway so worried about that. Until last year, that is. When you came over for my birthday that really changed her mind." He looked up at Katsuki, smiling a little. Katsuki glanced to him and then away, refusing to meet his gaze. "I told All Might about how you're my best friend and that we've been through so much together. I didn't tell him about the experiments, of course, but I did say that you were my best friend in the whole world. You're the only one who's nice to me at school- even though it makes the other kids think you're stupid for being my friend."

Katsuki's grip tightened. "They're just stupid. Everyone is, for thinking you're worthless. They just don't know the truth. They don't deserve to know."

"But once I have All Might's quirk-"

Suddenly, Katsuki rounded on Izuku, "Once you have his quirk, people are going to start trying to be your friend, Deku. You have to be careful. They'll only think you're cool because of his quirk. They won't know that what makes you special is your secret quirk."

"I know," Izuku said. "It's fine. I don't need any other friends but you anyway, Kacchan." He gave Katsuki a bright smile. For some reason, Katsuki's face flushed pink and he looked away.

"Mom asked about the other kids at school today," Katsuki muttered, "She still thinks that they're all my friends. Even though I haven't hung out with them since last year."

"Your mom is really busy though, isn't she? She's been spending more time with her research now that you're older?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah, but still. You'd think she'd notice that you're my only friend or something," Katsuki said. He hunched his shoulders slightly, "They don't pay any fucking attention to what I'm doing unless it's happening right in front of them… She only ever bothers me about you coming over, not anyone else not coming over."

Izuku nudged Katsuki in the side. He opened his mouth at the same time to make a jest and lighten the mood, but Katsuki winced under Izuku's elbow. "Kacchan?" He pulled back and looked at his side, "Are you hurt?"

"What? Oh. Just a bruise. The fridge shoved a corner of that washing machine into my side." He let go of Izuku's hand to lift up his shirt, "See?"

"Kacchan!" Izuku gasped.

Katsuki's side was purple and blue from the bottom of his ribs nearly to his hip. It had a sharp edge to the bruise where the corner of the appliance had hit him. Izuku reached towards it and then stopped himself. "That looks like it really hurts! Haven't you put any ice or anything on it?"

"I'm fine, Deku," Katsuki rolled his eyes. He began to lower his shirt but Izuku stopped him.

"You need to lie down! Let me get some ice for you or something." Izuku said, holding the shirt up. "You should take this off, too! What are you doing pretending it doesn't hurt!"

"Deku, it's nothing."

"It's not nothing! That bruise looks awful!"

"It's not as bad as anything I've fucking done to you, Deku. Just leave it alone."

Izuku's head jerked up and he met Katsuki's eyes. Katsuki glanced to the side but gathered himself with a deep breath and met Izuku's eyes again. "No." Izuku said firmly, "I will not leave it alone. You're my best friend, Kacchan. You got hurt doing something for me and then you got in trouble from All Might about it. Take off your shirt and lie down, I'm going to get some ice for you."

Katsuki narrowed his eyes. "Fine," he said between gritted teeth. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside.

"And lie down, Kacchan," said Izuku firmly.

"Nag," Katsuki muttered, but he lay down on his good side.

Izuku said he'd be right back and hurried out of the room.

He went straight for the kitchen, knowing exactly where to look to find some ice compresses for Katsuki's bruise. He ducked out of Haruka's line of sight, trying not to draw attention to himself while she was on the phone. She didn't seem to even see him as she was arguing with someone she kept calling 'a stupid bitch'. Or about someone like that. Izuku couldn't really tell.

Either way, he got what he needed and returned back to Katsuki's room.

He found his friend lying on his side with his back to the door and his bruise exposed to the air. It was a little longer than Izuku had seen before, with the bottom edge of it pressed against Katsuki's hip. Katsuki had pulled his pants down an inch or two to expose that little bit of skin.

Izuku hardly even noticed that beyond finding it weird that Katsuki hadn't bothered to remove his pants entirely. There was no way they could feel comfortable pressing up against that bruise. And besides, it wasn't as if they hadn't seen each other naked a hundred times.

"I'm back," He said, closing the door. He crawled onto the bed and knelt at Katsuki's back. His friend lay with his eyes closed, his arms wrapped around his pillow.

Katsuki only grunted in reply to Izuku.

Izuku rolled his eyes with a little smile. He lay out the soothing ice carefully, covering the worst of the bruise. Katsuki hissed through his teeth but didn't say anything.

When Izuku had finished laying out the ice, he draped a cloth over the top to keep the icy top covered. "There," he said quietly, "Feel better?" Not hearing any reply at all, Izuku poked Katsuki's cheek. "Hey, you awake?"

"Yeah." Katsuki opened an eye. He reached up and grabbed the hand that was poking him and held it tightly in one hand. His voice was incredibly soft when he whispered,"Sorry I fucked up the experiment and got hurt."

"Kacchan," Izuku started. He hesitated when Katsuki's fingers tightened around his to a near painful level. His palm was against Katsuki's throat. He could feel how Katsuki quickly was breathing, feel him swallow in silence. "I'm sorry for asking you to do it. There was no reason for that risk."

"You really fucked up."

"So please forgive me, Kacchan, I won't make that mistake again." Izuku bent down and pressed a light kiss to Katsuki's temple. It was the same sort of gesture his mother did for him when he was curled up scared or anxious in his bed as a child. He meant it as a display of concern or sincerity, but something felt Off about the way Katsuki tensed up under his hand.

Izuku lifted his head up slowly. He was losing feeling in his fingers under Katsuki's grip but he didn't care. Nothing like that could harm him permanently and it mattered more that Katsuki had something to hold onto when he needed it, be it Izuku or anything else.

Silence settled around them, thick as the blanket that Katsuki lay on. Izuku adjusted the ice a little bit and then shifted on the bed to get a little more comfortable. "Kacchan?"

Katsuki grunted.

"I'm gonna fall asleep here if you don't let go of my hand, Kacchan."

In response, Katsuki pulled Izuku's hand closer to himself.

Izuku rolled his eyes, "Fine. I'm gonna text my mom that I'm spending the night again." It took a little squirming to get his phone out of his pocket, but he managed. Izuku texted his mother, who promptly replied that she appreciated the information and to be safe. He said he would and then put the phone aside. "Scoot over a little?"

Katsuki did, inching away a tiny bit. Izuku lay down, grateful that he wasn't lying on the arm of the hand that Katsuki had stolen from him. He pillowed his left arm under his head and sighed. "Goodnight I guess."

"Goodnight," Katsuki whispered back. Izuku could hear him yawn, feel his jaw stretch against his captured fingers. Katsuki's breath became even and deep and Izuku smiled.

It wasn't good that Katsuki was hurt, but it was good that he had accepted Izuku's care. Katsuki did so much for him, it was only fair that Izuku did whatever he could for Katsuki too.

* * *

"Rough day at work?" Tetsuma said as he poured Haruka a glass of wine. He poured one for himself before he joined her on the couch.

"Tessa has been giving me migraines over this shitty pet project of hers all goddamn month," Haruka said, gratefully taking the glass and drinking from it. She let out a satisfied little gasp as she pulled the glass away and smiled. "Ah. This is exactly what I needed. Thank you, honey."

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, "Or is it one of those classified pet projects that Tessa keeps getting involved in?"

"Unfortunately," Haruka said, "She wants to drag me into it because my quirk is somehow similar, but you know how I feel about that."

Tetsuma nodded. "Of course. How about I distract you then? Yuriy returned to the task force this week and he has single-handedly fucked one thing up every damn day, somehow escalating to the point of kicking out the genny this morning and nearly ruining a decade's worth of data."

Haruka grinned with glee, "Oh I love it when people fuck up in your labs! Lay it on me, honey!"

Tetsuma gladly complied.

* * *

[Parts 3 of 6]


	8. Exsanguination 4

_a quick thank you to all the people leaving reviews; i am delightedly reading them and use them as a reminder to post a new chapter. i hope that your questions will be addressed as the fic continues; i dont want to spoil anything so i've been keeping quiet._

 _thank you for your comments, please continue to enjoy the story and please leave reviews when you are able._

* * *

 **Exsanguination 4: decisive**  
 _best friends, but just friends_

* * *

While getting dressed for gym class, Izuku looked up when Katsuki took off his shirt. He was checking on his friend's bruise like he did every day, and today the sight of it made him smile a little. The purple and blue had lightened to an ugly greenish-yellow, but Izuku knew that meant it was healing properly. Katsuki noticed his smile and glanced down to his side.

"It looks way better, Kacchan," Izuku said. He reached out and traced the edge of it with his fingers. "It doesn't hurt as much anymore, does it?"

"It's fine," Katsuki said gruffly. He stood there holding his gym shirt with his arm lifted from his side so he wasn't in Izuku's way. "It'll probably be gone by the end of the week."

"That's good." Izuku nodded, running his palm lightly up Katsuki's side. "Work out's must have been-"

"Hey!" a classmate called from the other side of the room. Izuku jumped a little, having completely forgotten that they weren't alone. It wasn't as if any of his classmates spoke to him on a regular basis, and with Katsuki as his friend and not a bully, he had nothing to fear from the rest of them. "Save the gross gay make-outs for after school, okay? Some of us want to eat our fucking lunches later."

Pulling his hand back, Izuku looked over in confusion. He couldn't identify who was shouting since several of them were looking over. Katsuki, on the other hand, apparently didn't need to identify anyone for anything. He shoved his shirt into Izuku's hand and stalked over, "Say that again, fucker."

"We just want a little consideration," Said one of the taller students, stepping forward. "It's enough that we got to deal with you two being gay in class, but can you tone it the fuck down sometimes? It's gross."

"We're not fucking gay," Katsuki snarled. His fists smoldered at his side. "We're just friends."

A murmur of disbelief ran through the crowd. Izuku saw them roll their eyes and heard them scoff. "Yeah right," someone muttered.

"If you're not gay, then why do you two do all that gay shit together?" asked the tall student.

"I'm going to fucking kill you," Katsuki said. His voice was low and rough as he threatened.

Izuku frowned. "Kacchan!" That was not acceptable. "Kacchan stop!" He rushed over, grabbing Katsuki by the arm. Katsuki held back but didn't turn to look at him. Without even looking to the crowd, Izuku leaned in and cupped his free hand around Katsuki's ear. Quietly, so only Katsuki could hear, he whispered, "You're not allowed to kill anyone but me, remember? We talked about this."

Katsuki sneered and muttered back, "He fucking deserves to die."

Pulling his hand away from Katsuki's ear, Izuku rolled his eyes and tugged on his arm again, trying to get him away. "Yeah but that doesn't mean you have to be the one to do it. Accidents happen all the time. Just let them die on their own like they eventually will."

"Christ," someone whispered. Izuku ignored them and focused his attention on Katsuki. That was something Katsuki responded to well -when Izuku blocked out everyone else and focused only on him.

"Kacchan, let them be."

Katsuki slowly turned to look at him, there was still fury in his eyes and stiffness in his body. He wasn't relaxing the way Izuku thought he should be, but he was shifting his attention and that was the key thing. Izuku could handle anything Katsuki threw his way and his anger was no exception.

The tall student tossed another 'gay' comment their way but Izuku ignored him with the ease of years of practice. When they were back to their spot, he distracted Katsuki by bringing up the Yuuei Entrance Exam. It was only a month away, now, and they were doing nonstop training for it. Izuku couldn't wait. He knew Katsuki couldn't wait.

He gave Katsuki back his shirt with a smile, wondering a little about the way Katsuki wouldn't meet his gaze a time or two, but finished changing anyway. Gym class was like a free training period for them and they excelled in it, just like they excelled in their classwork.

Of course, working side by side in all things, Izuku figured there wouldn't be a time when they didn't excel.

* * *

Inko rarely had time alone with her son these days. In or out of the house he was always running around with his best friend. Half the time they slept over at each other's homes, too exhausted to return at the end of the day. She had seen Izuku return home in the clothes from the day before or in Katsuki's clothes more than once.

So, when she was able to sit with just her son at dinner and talk, she treasured those times. Especially since Izuku had plenty of fun stories to tell her from his running around, literally. He saw a surprising amount of odd things on his runs, plus he spent time with All Might. Inko was overjoyed that the Pro Hero had taken an interest in her son.

Even if it was dangerous work, Inko never saw her son injured from training, not like Katsuki would get from time to time. He never had bruises or sprains or cuts or anything and she knew it was because All Might was looking out for her son during his training. Katsuki did a lot of his training on his own without supervision; Katsuki did a lot of his activity without supervision, in Inko's opinion. And he suffered for it.

On one such evening, as Inko cleared the dishes from dinner and Izuku prepared his lunch for the next day, he asked her an odd question.

"Mom? What does it mean to be gay?"

Inko fumbled the bowl she was carrying and nearly dropped it. She caught it with her quirk before it hit the ground and so it spun slowly as she lifted it back into her hands. "What was that, honey?"

Izuku didn't look up from the container he was putting food in. "Some of the kids at school called Kacchan and me gay today and Kacchan got really angry. What does it mean?"

Inko stared at her son. He was top of all of his classes! He was so smart and so curious! How had this escaped him? "Uh. You see, most of the time, men are interested in women and women are interested in men. But sometimes, men are interested in other men and women are interested in other women. When that happens, it's usually called being gay."

"Interested?" Izuku asked, finally looking up. His brows were furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"Romantically interested," Inko said. Izuku wasn't freaking out, which helped her be calm. He looked confused but curious and, at the same time, serious. Of course, anything regarding Katsuki in some way made him act seriously. "Or sexually interested. It's the feeling of wanting to be with that person forever, to build a life with them. Gay men have that feeling towards other men. Um."

Izuku rubbed his chin thoughtfully. If Inko listened hard, she could hear him mumbling to himself but she had learned to let him have that bit of privacy to himself. After all, her husband had a similar habit and preferred it if she didn't eavesdrop on his thoughts.

She returned to cleaning up. As she wiped the table down, Izuku's head popped up. He had finished preparing his lunch and had it neatly packed way in a container. Looking at Inko, Izuku said, "Thanks for telling me what it meant. Kacchan couldn't when I asked."

"A-ah," Inko remarked with a cough to cover up her nervous little laugh. The question put a whole different spin on the way she saw Katsuki and Izuku interact. She had a feeling she knew what Izuku was going to say. "How do you feel about being called that? Do you think that's something you are?"

Izuku shook his head. "Nope. I'm not gay. I don't see guys like that at all." He put his lunch in the fridge and, closing it, smiled at his mother. "Do you mind if I call Kacchan? There's that movie on tonight and I wanted to know if he wants to watch it here or at his house."

"I- I-," Inko stared at her son. Not gay? With the way he and Katsuki practically cuddled on the couch during their movies? With the way she found them sleeping curled up in bed together? With the way they bathed together? What?

"...or uh, if that bothers you, we can watch the movie ourselves…" Izuku mumbled, looking down at his hands as he fumbled them.

"I… I need to go lie down," Inko said faintly. "If you want to call Katsuki over, go ahead…"

"Mom, are you okay?"

"Uh huh," she said, "Don't worry about Mom. I'm just… going to go to bed early tonight. I think." Because she didn't need to stay up if Katsuki and Izuku were here. Not if Izuku wasn't gay. Nothing would happen between them. Which, tonight, was a fortunate thing for her.

* * *

Katsuki was hyper-aware of Izuku tonight. He couldn't focus on the movie. He could only focus on the way Izuku sat at his side, warm and solid and sure. Izuku didn't act differently at all after his announcement. He still leaned against Katsuki's shoulder. He still let Katsuki hold onto his arm.

They still sat under the same blanket together, curled up and close as they watched their movie. Katsuki was grateful he'd seen most of it before because he couldn't pay attention to the movie at all when he could feel every shift of Izuku's body beside his own.

It had been like this for a while, longer than just this night. Ever since Izuku had kissed the side of his head the day he got the bruise, Katsuki hadn't been able to stop noticing these insignificant, impossibly engrossing details about Izuku. Things like the way his hair looked over the different periods of the day; from waking up first thing to after he had showered or when he tried to 'make it look nice'. Things like Izuku wanting to check his injury every day, to slide his hand over it and make sure it was healing and how his palm sent shivers up Katsuki's side.

Things like the soft way Izuku said his name, sleepy in the morning or intent during the afternoons, how if he just whispered it, Katsuki heard it and couldn't ignore it.

And then to go and say he was sure he wasn't gay?

What was Katsuki supposed to do with that information?

Izuku yawned widely. He had put his cheek on Katsuki's shoulder half an hour ago and was blinking sleepily now. The movie was nearly finished, but Katsuki wasn't sure Izuku would make it through the last bit.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly to try and calm himself down. If he got too nervous, he'd shout and wake up Inko. He didn't want to bother her. Didn't want it to be anyone but him and Izuku.

Because even if Izuku wasn't gay, Katsuki had a sinking feeling that he himself very much was.

"Sleepy?" Katsuki asked as normally as he could manage. "We can finish this later if you want."

"Mhm," Izuku mumbled. "Bed?"

"Yeah sure," Katsuki rooted around for the remote and found it. Turning off the TV cast them in near darkness. There was a light on in the kitchen, but nothing else.

Katsuki shivered when he felt Izuku's arm slip around his neck. "Too tired to walk, Kacchan," Izuku mumbled, resting more of his weight on Katsuki. "Carry me this time."

Katsuki closed his eyes for a moment to gather himself and then nodded. "Next time, you carry me. Deal?"

"Deal."

Picking up Izuku was weirdly difficult. On the one hand, he wasn't very big. Katsuki could easily lift him up with his arm under Izuku's legs and around his back. On the other hand, carrying Izuku in his arms made Katsuki's hand sweaty and his heart race. Especially when Izuku buried his face in Katsuki's neck and openly relied on Katsuki to take care of him.

Katsuki carried Izuku to his bedroom, ignoring the tight grip he had on his friend and the way Izuku was definitely already asleep He couldn't stand it anymore once he reached the bed so he unceremoniously dropped Izuku onto it.

Izuku woke with a yelp, bouncing a little on the bed. "Kacchan? What!"

"Scoot over," Katsuki said, climbing onto the bed. "C'mon, what are you waiting for?"

"You're going to sleep with your shirt on?" Izuku asked, "You never sleep with your shirt on."

"I do too," Katsuki said. "When I'm cold or something."

"You're cold?"

"Or something," Katsuki muttered. He shoved Izuku so he was on his side, facing away. "Go back to sleep, fuckhead."

"Okay," Izuku said around a yawn. He curled up around his pillow and fell back to sleep. Katsuki lay facing him, staring at the back of his head before he angrily closed his eyes and forced himself to go to sleep. If Izuku wasn't gay but was still comfortable being this close to Katsuki, then, he decided, there was no damn way that Katsuki was going to ruin it by telling Izuku how he felt.

He'd just bite his tongue and keep his promise.

Izuku was his best friend, no one else's and Katsuki wasn't going to ever let that change.

* * *

[Part 4 of 6]


	9. Exsanguination 5

_Warnings: We're back with the blood and gore. Very exciting._

* * *

 **Exsanguination 5: examination**  
 **the main event**

* * *

"Kacchan! Kacchan!"

Katsuki braced himself just in time to keep from falling over as Izuku ran up and threw his arms around Katsuki's neck. Izuku's face was flushed and lit up with an enormous smile as he continued, "I got it! I got it, Kacchan! Today's the day and I got it!"

They weren't exactly alone on the street; it was early enough that plenty of other people were headed out to the station like they were, but Katsuki couldn't focus on that. The weight of Izuku's body against his short-circuited his brain. "Got what?" he asked dumbly, staring at Izuku's smile, at his glittering eyes.

Izuku leaned in even closer and whispered, "One for all!"

Katsuki's heart leaped for a different reason as those words sunk in and settled. "Deku, that's… that's…"

"I know! It's incredible!" Izuku pulled back, giving Katsuki breathing room at last, but he just changed his grip to Katsuki's hands. "I haven't been able to use it yet. He said it'll take a little while to digest but it should be ready for the exam! The exam! Aren't you excited, Kacchan?"

"Am I excited?" Katsuki grinned. He turned his hands around so he could grip Izuku's forearms and tug him close again. "We've been training for months for this, Deku. I'm fucking thrilled. We're going to do a clean fucking sweep of this fucking exam, you know it."

"We're going to get into Yuuei," Izuku said excitedly. "We're going to be heroes. Together."

"I can't wait to see this new quirk in action, Deku," Katsuki said. "You're going to be incredible during the test!"

"Me? What about you! Kacchan, you get to show off your quirk! I can't wait! It's going to be so great!" Izuku bounced up and down as he chattered. They wound each other up with their excitement, their words, like a feedback loop of energy. It built and built between them until Katsuki knew he had to pull back before he said or did something beyond the limits of their close friendship.

"C'mon Deku," Katsuki grinned, tugging on his arm. "Let's fucking go and wreck shop."

Izuku beamed at him. Even though Katsuki moved to let go of his arm, Izuku reached back out and took his hand. He smiled when Katsuki glanced down at the way Izuku intertwined their fingers and said, "We'll be together all the way. Forever."

"Forever," Katsuki repeated, squeezing Izuku's hand briefly.

Hand in hand, hearts hammering in their chests and the excitement for the exam thrumming through their veins like bees in a hive, Katsuki and Izuku went to Yuuei for the very first time.

* * *

Izuku gaped openly at the school, making Katsuki roll his eyes but smile fondly. He had to drag him along, tightening his grip. They were surrounded by future-students, future-classmates, and Izuku's gawking and fanboy behavior caught the attention of plenty of others.

Some noticed the way they still held hands, but Katsuki refused to let go. If Izuku wanted to hold his hand, it would be there to hold. Katsuki would take what he could get, in terms of Izuku. After all, Izuku had said he wasn't gay, but he still showed no interest in any girls.

When Izuku stumbled over his feet, Katsuki yanked his arm back to right him. "Idiot Deku," he chided, kicking Izuku's leg, "Watch where you're fucking going. You'll break your damn nose if you hit the concrete at this height."

"Sorry Kacchan," Izuku apologized. He turned his arm, shifting his grip on Katsuki's hand and pressed the inside of his wrist against Katsuki's own. Katsuki could feel the knife through the cloth. His heart fluttered a little bit as Izuku whispered, "I brought my Good Luck with me, though. So don't worry. A broken nose wouldn't stop me from taking this test with you."

"Good," Katsuki said. "Now c'mon. Assigned seating or not, this place is going to be fucking packed."

* * *

When Present Mic said they wouldn't be going to the same arena, Izuku's stomach dropped. He wasn't afraid to fight alone- he could handle that- but he didn't want to fight alone. He wanted to fight with Katsuki, at Katsuki's side. That had been the whole point.

"Kacchan," he whispered, "Kacchan-"

Katsuki grabbed Izuku's hand where it rested in his lap and he squeezed it tightly. Izuku instantly went silent, staring at his best friend. Katsuki looked at him, confidence in every angle of his face.

"They have to test us separately first," Katsuki said, his voice low, "And see how well we do on our own. We trained for this, Deku. We're going to fucking blow them away." His grip was so tight it hurt, but only a little. Izuku needed that grip now. His anxiety was rising. He wanted to be able to use All Might's quirk well enough to impress the judges.

He wanted to pass so he could continue to be at Katsuki's side.

Nodding, Izuku turned his attention back to the seminar. Katsuki relaxed his grip a little bit, but Izuku didn't let him go. Not yet.

* * *

Nervously, Izuku adjusted the top to his red jumpsuit. He stood in a crowd of a dozen or more other possible candidates and was hyper-aware of his isolation. He was smaller than most of them and with no visible quirk. He fingered the edge to his knife's sheath for comfort. Good Luck was within easy access on his wrist, tucked away under the sleeve of his clothing.

He wanted to bring it out, to slide his fingers over the smooth hilt and see the flash of sunlight on the blade, but people were looking at him. There was a girl who peeked at him once or twice before looking away. There was the guy who had called him out during the seminar. There were others, too, that had noticed him.

Izuku swallowed, his throat clicking. He stared up at the gate, waiting in silence. He hoped Katsuki was doing better than he was. He hoped that it was only him who had these butterflies in his gut.

Suddenly the gates swung open and Mic's voice declared the exam was starting. Everyone rushed in past Izuku, who ran one more nervous hand over the inside of his wrist before he followed suit.

* * *

Izuku wasn't fast enough.

Robots kept getting sniped out from in front of him with laser beams or shock waves or literal engine legs propelling people to the robot in front of him first. His first thought was to use All Might's quirk to enhance his speed.

That worked once.

Izuku cleared fifty feet within a few bounds, but each step shattered another bone in his legs and feet. He crushed the computer box of the robot with his fist, shattering some of his fingers and then collapsed next to the wreckage.

Lying among the robot's carcass, Izuku hissed, "All this for two fucking points? There has to be a better way." Good Luck slid easily into his hand. Checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was within eyesight, Izuku ducked his head to hide his throat and slashed it open.

The feeling of hot blood pouring out of his throat, of his body becoming cold, his vision dark, swam to the surface of his consciousness. Yet, after a few seconds, Izuku came gasping back to life. He wiped Good Luck off on his pant leg and got back to his feet. There was blood soaking the front of his jacket now, but he'd bled on these clothes before and knew that it didn't change the shade and only looked like he was sweating badly.

Rubbing his throat with the back of his hand, Izuku continued on for the test. There had to be something, something, that could get him a bunch of points in one fell swoop. Either a large cluster of robots or-

The ground rumbled.

Izuku walked around a corner and looked up. Down the street, an enormous robot made slow progress forwards. It crushed buildings as it walked. It shattered the ground with each step. Dust clouds rose from the falling debris.

All the test candidates were fleeing from the scene.

It was the rampaging robot, worth zero points. But it was enormous. And it was causing so much damage.

Izuku walked towards it slowly, his brain working at a fast clip. Katsuki had rolled his eyes at the robot worth zero points and Izuku hadn't thought much of it at the time. But they hadn't known one very important factor. They hadn't realized how big it was.

And when a villain was big, it was dangerous.

"That thing's not worth anything," someone shouted as they ran past Izuku. He didn't think they were talking to him, though, but to the person on their other side. "Let's get the hell out of here and find some more points quickly!"

Izuku passed the kid with the glasses as he walked towards the robot. Their eyes met briefly and Izuku gave him a smirk that he'd picked up from Katsuki. I know something you don't know, he showed in that expression, and I'm better than you because of that.

The other boy faltered in his escape, but only for a moment.

Looking up at the robot, Izuku saw it turning its head box slowly before taking another step. Slow and stupid, he could easily get it. He dropped his gaze down to the ground, knowing that would be the most difficult part to navigate up to the-

Izuku's eyes caught on movement. He saw a flash of brown hair and of brightly colored cloth. In an instant, he went from walking and evaluating casually to sprinting. This was what he had trained for- All Might's quirk was a good cover, but before that Izuku had already known what he was going to be. A Heroic Rescuer.

The hero who could not die would save everyone else from dying as much as he could. It was what made him Katsuki's perfect partner. Katsuki could destroy without inhibition because Izuku would be there to save anyone he missed.

It didn't matter who the girl was, or even that it was a girl. What mattered was that she was within the range of the giant robot's foot and Izuku was going to save her life.

The cracking of bone was lost in the sound of crunching concrete as Izuku used his newest quirk to throw himself forward. By the time he raced past the girl, he was moving so fast that the clouds of dust poofed out of existence when he hit them. He jumped, wincing when he did. All Might hadn't been kidding about the damage his quirk could do. Izuku felt muscle tear, bone fracture and blood run free from his legs as he sprang from his already broken feet into the air.

Drawing back his fist, Izuku poured that quirk into his arm. The muscle flexed, the sleeve tore and he was suddenly very grateful that he'd put Good Luck on his other side.

On the downward side of his arc, Izuku was headed straight for the robot's center mass. He had aimed himself like a cluster of bullets- right for the chest. With all the force of his new quirk, Izuku slammed his fist forwards. His knuckle grazed the metal and that was the last sensation he felt from his fist and arm that wasn't a burning horror of raw nerves.

The effect of his punch was more than enough to distract him from his immediate damage. His fist and the shockwave he'd created punched a hole clear through the robot. The top half was suddenly disconnected and fell down and back as it lost the fight with gravity. The front began to fall forward, or rather, sink down onto the joints of the robot's legs.

Izuku grinned, euphoric and overwhelmed with adrenaline. As he fell through the air, he laughed in excitement. If only Katsuki had been here to see this! He couldn't wait to tell him about it.

He was slapped, literally, out of his laughter by a hand to the side of his head. Confused, he tried to turn midair to see what it was and saw the girl from before was floating on some debris. Her face was red and tearful and she had a hand over her mouth as she looked at him.

Only a few feet from the ground, Izuku came to a gentle stop. Then, jarringly, he and all the rest of the floating debris around came to a drop. He landed with a thump and an unconscious groan.

Izuku was suddenly aware of all of his injuries. He couldn't move his legs and one look told him they were twisted all out of sorts. He couldn't feel anything on his right side and when he looked-

His right arm was a bloody stump from the middle of his forearm down. The white of his half fractured ulna and radius stuck out of the raw red flesh of his arm. Blood oozed constantly out of the wound, more of it with every heartbeat. Izuku blinked at it for a moment, slowly recognizing the signs of fatigue that came with blood loss.

Grunting, he wriggled around until he got his other hand free. Turning onto his side was a network of agony up his legs and hell on his arm, but he did it with gritted teeth and silence. He had to put his back to the girl, to hide the damaged arm as best as he could. Good Luck fit perfectly into his hand once more and the blade slid perfectly into his throat for the second time that morning.

When Izuku came to again, he was not alone. He coughed and blinked and knelt up.

Other candidates stood around, looking exhilarated and curious and exhausted. They focused on him as he got up, wiping absently at his throat and tucking Good Luck back into place out of sight.

The girl who had saved him knelt on the ground a few feet away, swishing water in her mouth and spitting it into a bucket someone had provided.

"He's up!" Someone said.

The girl turned, eyes wide. Izuku sheepishly waved at her with his now recovered hand. He had found the best way to convince people he wasn't dead or hadn't been so badly injured, that it was all a mistake on their part, was to act as normal as possible after a death recovery. People didn't want to believe others could die and come back, even if the world was full of other kinds of incredible quirks.

Izuku kept a smile on his face and tried to be as casual as possible as he knelt there with blood seeped into his jumper and his right sleeve missing from the shoulder.

The girl gave him a weak smile but looked away quickly, clearly not well. Izuku wondered if it was a drawback to her quirk that had her nauseated like that. He resolved to ask her if the opportunity arose.

An older woman entered the field, moving quickly despite her age. Izuku perked up upon seeing her, recognizing her instantly. "Recovery Girl!"

She was handing out gummies and tending their wounds. When she reached Izuku, she looked him over and held out a gummy, "Quite a show out there, young man."

"Um, thank you?" Izuku said as he took the gummy. He looked it over and then popped it into his mouth. It gave him a rush of energy but since he was already healed, it didn't do anything else for him.

She moved on after giving him another odd little look but Izuku was used to odd looks from adults. Katsuki's mom gave him one all the time.

"Kacchan," Izuku said suddenly, getting to his feet. He swayed for a moment as he got feeling back into his legs. That distracted him long enough that he paused and ran his hands down them, double checking his feeling in his legs. Straightening up, he looked around, "Can we go now?"

"If you're well, you may leave the exam grounds," Recovery Girl said while standing next to the girl who had been throwing up. "You'll find out your results in a week."

"Thank you!" Izuku called, already trotting away. He had to find Katsuki. He had to tell him about the robot, about the way his fist had exploded. He had to find out about Katsuki's test experience as well.

He was unbelievably excited as he trotted away with blood drying on his throat and the right sleeve of his jumper ripped completely off. The others stared, but Izuku was used to people staring. They did it all the time when he walked with Katsuki, so why would now be any different?

* * *

In a separate room filled with multiple monitors, a row of judges sat in silence.

There had been lots of smoke and debris dust in the air, blocking their view of parts of the exam field. Yet, they had all seen the same two things. The first was that the boy Midoriya had fallen out of the air, clearly missing his right hand. The second was that the very same boy had walked out of the exam with both arms and both legs intact.

They had seen Recovery Girl go in- they had sent her into this field first because of that boy. But to find and reattach his hand so quickly and leave him enough energy to walk out on his own? No one had thought that possible. There had to be something else going on there.

As they contemplated this, one of them spoke up, smothering an amused laugh. "We should put him in Aizawa's class."

* * *

[Part 5 of 6]


	10. Exsanguination 6

_After this section, there will be two intermissions. The next full part, Asphyxiation, is 7 parts long and will start in two chapters._

* * *

 **Exsanguination 6: benefits**  
 **friends with 'em**

* * *

Walking out of Yuuei, Katsuki felt giddy with adrenaline. There had been no way he had failed the test. He'd taken out so many fucking robots. He had to be in the top ten with his score; he could feel it in his bones.

When he saw Izuku waiting for him by the gate, a small, dark-haired figure against the stone of the wall, he picked up his pace. Izuku was even smaller than usual, crouched down on the ground so he could balance his notebook open on his knee and write in it. Katsuki recognized the binding on that notebook, even from a distance.

It was their experiment data log.

Katsuki intended to sneak up on Izuku, but when he got close, Izuku looked up with a bright smile. "Kacchan!" he exclaimed, rising to his feet and closing the booklet with his pen inside. He held out his free hand to Katsuki, but, knowing that Izuku wouldn't be writing that intently in the book if he hadn't died, a little hand holding wasn't enough.

Fear knocked around inside of Katsuki's chest, along with euphoria from his excellent test. Izuku had died out there. He had died and Katsuki hadn't been there to protect him from people while he was vulnerable.

Katsuki stepped past Izuku's outstretched hand and wrapped his arms around Izuku in a tight hug. Izuku made a surprised grunt but fully accepted the embrace as he put his arm around Katsuki's shoulders.

"You smell like blood," Katsuki said softly. "What the fuck happened to you?" He ran his hands up and then down Izuku's back, feeling for anything unusual. Worse than the fear that Izuku had limited lives was that he'd come back twisted and broken, unable to use his body and in pain. Katsuki didn't know what he would do if Izuku ended up like that.

"I had to reset twice," Izuku answered. "I used enhancement twice and it broke both my legs and my arm- well my fist the first time and ripped off part of my arm the second time- so I used a little Luck." He tapped his notebook against Katsuki's shoulder and said, "I've written it all down so you can review it."

Katsuki let out a shuddering breath as he pulled out of the hug. "Give me that," he snatched the book out of Izuku's hand and flipped it open to the right page. Quickly, he skimmed the material. Izuku had, essentially, transcribed both events where he had used his Good Luck to reset his body.

When he got to the end of the second incident, Katsuki's stomach sank. He shut the book slowly. "Deku…."

"Yes?"

Katsuki gritted his teeth. The urge to yell was strong, but there were still students walking by them. They weren't alone. Izuku seemed to notice the same, looking up as some people walked by. "They keep staring," Izuku mumbled. He nervously ran his hand over the collar of his uniform. He, like Katsuki, had changed back into their middle school uniform after the test. "Why do they keep staring? I don't have any blood on me anymore."

"Come on," Katsuki said. He took Izuku's hand and roughly pulled him away, "Let's get out of here and go somewhere we can talk."

"The beach?" Izuku asked, following behind. "It's cleared now. I finished it this morning."

"Good enough." Katsuki agreed.

* * *

The beach was clear from end to end, just as Izuku had claimed. Katsuki led Izuku across the sand, past where a couple and their kid were playing in the shallows and to a spot where they could talk reasonably alone. Turning to face Izuku, Katsuki was greeted by that dumb-happy smile that Izuku gave him from time to time. Katsuki's heart jumped for another reason besides their topic.

Annoyed, Katsuki shoved Izuku, making him stagger back and look surprised, "Kacchan? What's wrong?"

"A lot of things," he answered, "A whole fucking lot of things."

"Wait, really? But we just finished the exams," Izuku said, "There's no way you didn't pass and I think that I did too. Are you worried about the reset?"

"No," Katsuki said, "Yes." He ran an angry hand through his hair. Izuku frowned a little, which actually did nothing to calm Katsuki down in the least. He had to stop looking at Izuku- Had to clear his head of those green eyes-

Katsuki jerked around to look at the ocean. "I'm not fucking worried about the reset. Not really. You came back and it's fine. You'll always come back."

"Kacchan," Izuku said. Katsuki felt Izuku's fingers tentatively touch his arm, "We talked about this. We've done dozens of experiments and I've come back from every one of them the same. You don't need to worry. As far as the science proves, I won't ever actually die. I won't leave you."

Katsuki knocked Izuku's hand away. "But if you keep being so reckless you might be taken away. Haven't you thought of that?"

"Well, I-"

"Those tests were recorded, Deku. Did you fucking forget that? There were judges watching you. What if they had seen- and they must have had seen something- you blew your fucking arm off!" Katsuki squeezed his eyes shut. He had to level out his breathing, to back away from nausea that swept through him at the idea of the adults taking Izuku somewhere because of his special quirk.

"Oh. I. But I … How could I take the test and not reset? I was bleeding out anyway, at least the second time. And I made sure to turn away from anyone around both times I used Good Luck." Izuku's voice dropped a little, lowering to an almost mumble as he added, "Would even the heroes at Yuuei take me away for testing or something?"

It still felt like Izuku was wrong, somehow. Not about the pro heroes, which, if All Might could do anything he could probably protect Izuku from being taken and experimented on. But about something else that was fundamentally obvious. Katsuki rounded on Izuku, "That's not the fucking point, Deku."

His anger boiled under his skin and when he stared at Izuku, it only got worse. Izuku was clueless to why he was upset. He just couldn't make the jump on his own, which meant- Well, it meant Katsuki was going to have to tell him, wasn't he?

"It's not?" Izuku's frown deepened, "Then what is the point?"

"At this rate, everyone is going to find out about your quirk," Katsuki said, talking fast. He stepped closer, poking Izuku hard in the chest, "Even if they don't figure out the truth they'll know you can heal from your own injuries. You're strong and fast and can heal- your quirk is incredible! You're good in class and all these new students aren't going to ever know you were quirkless and worthless. You're cute and nice and give a fuck about people. You're fucking irresistible, Deku and-" Katsuki's throat closed up with a click. He couldn't get the words out.

Izuku blinked owlishly at him once or twice. Slowly, he began to turn red. "Kacchan, what are you saying? What does this have to do with the test? I don't understand."

Katsuki clenched his hands into fists. He wanted to punch Izuku for making him have to say the words. He wanted to grab Izuku and shake him to make him see. He wanted to throttle Izuku. He wanted to pull him close and show him how-

No.

Katsuki let out his breath harshly. Izuku waited patiently for him like he always did. Katsuki unfolded his hands. They shook slightly as he reached for Izuku.

Izuku didn't move away as Katsuki slid his hands over his cheeks. Izuku's face was soft and still a little round despite the muscle,the rest of his body had put on. "Don't you fucking see it?" Katsuki said quietly. He felt Izuku lean in slightly to catch every word. "You're not fucking worthless anymore, Deku."

Izuku's eyes widened. He opened his mouth but Katsuki glared him into silence.

"Shut up. I'm not… I'm not fucking done. Okay?" Izuku nodded slightly. "I'm trying to fucking tell you that… That once we go to Yuuei, once we meet all those new people, you can't… Look. Once they all know about you, about your quirk, it won't be- It won't be special anymore. Will it."

"Kacchan," Izuku started.

"Don't fucking say anything," Katsuki tightened his grip, shaking Izuku slightly. Izuku reached up to brace himself on Katsuki's arm, but didn't make any move in pulling away, "I'm trying to tell you that I'm- I'm-"

Izuku suddenly smiled. He tugged on Katsuki's sleeve, first, and then reached out to Katsuki's uniform jacket and tugged there instead. "Kacchan."

Katsuki felt his palms heat up. He wanted to blow Izuku's damn head off. Didn't he know how distracting it was being pulled in like that? "Stop just saying my damn name over and over, what the fuck do you want, Deku?"

Izuku's eyes were wide and clear. The smile on his face small and belying nothing about the next words he said. "Don't worry, Kacchan. I'm not going to go away and make new friends and forget you. I love you the most. Our friendship is always going to be the most important one to me."

Katsuki's tongue twisted over the different answers he wanted to give. He shivered at Izuku's steady gaze. Izuku was resolute. Committed. Katsuki just couldn't choke down the word friend without it leaving a bad taste in his mouth and a sickness in his gut.

"That's not good enough," Katsuki said. Izuku still had a hold of his jacket, but he still cupped Izuku's cheeks in his hands. He pulled him closer, making Izuku stagger a little to keep his footing in the sand. "People are going to know a part of our secret or even all of it and I don't want to share it. I don't want to share you. Don't you fucking get it, Deku? Being friends isn't fucking good enough anymore."

He leaned in, so close he could feel the rasp of Izuku's breath on his cheek. "I want more."

Izuku's cheeks reddened under Katsuki's hands. He could feel the heat of them rising as Izuku stood there staring at him. When a minute had gone by without a reaction besides that blushing, Katsuki began to pull away, embarrassed and irritated.

Suddenly, Izuku lurched forward and grabbed him around the middle. He pulled Katsuki into a tight hug. Katsuki lost his breath as he felt Izuku pressing against his chest.

"More like what?" Izuku asked. "Whatever you want, Kacchan, I'll give it to you. I want you to stay with me. I love you."

Katsuki kissed him. He didn't have the brain to formulate words in response. He just closed his eyes and closed that distance, pressing his lips against Izuku's for the first time. There was a moment of stillness from Izuku before he pressed back, firm and warm, just like the rest of his body.

Katsuki pulled back slowly, grateful for Izuku's embrace. He felt dizzy. Weak in the knees. It made him a little infuriated that Izuku could do that to him- tiny, kind, cute Izuku. Izuku blinked open his eyes slowly, smiling.

"You want more like that?" Izuku whispered, always looking for answers, always eager to ask more questions. "Kisses and… and other things?"

Katsuki nodded, struggling to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Okay."

"But you're not-" Katsuki frowned, "You told me you weren't gay. How are you okay with this?"

"I'm not gay," Izuku said simply. "I don't want to kiss any guys but you, Kacchan. Mom told me that gay men want other men. But I don't want anyone but you."

Katsuki stared at him for a moment before his own stupidity hit him like a ton of bricks. Without even thinking about it, he took out his anger at himself out on Izuku. He dug his fingers into Izuku's cheek and jaw and yanked him in for another kiss. "Stupid." He kissed. "Fucking." Katsuki bit Izuku's lower lip. "Deku!"

It wasn't kind or soft or sweet, like that first, like how Izuku was. Katsuki pushed against Izuku, demanding and controlling and unpracticed. He turned Izuku's head however he wanted it to be and, when he got bored with going after Izuku's lips, he pushed his tongue into Izuku's mouth.

Katsuki shivered when Izuku moaned into his mouth. Izuku's grip around his middle tightened.

Drawing back from the kiss, Katsuki licked his lips and smirked. Izuku smiled up at him, his bottom lip swollen already. "Kacchan?" Deku said. Katsuki dragged his eyes up to meet Deku's.

"What?"

"I'm sorry for being reckless. I didn't mean to upset you," Izuku whispered, "Forgive me?"

"Duh," Katsuki said. "Now shut up and let me kiss you." Obediently, Izuku stopped talking and lifted his chin to make it easier for Katsuki.

Katsuki slid one hand off of Izuku's face and into his tangle of hair. He held Izuku's head in place while he practiced and practiced his kissing. Izuku was the one that held them upright, holding onto Katsuki and shifting his feet whenever they began to settle uneasily in the sand.

They only stopped because Izuku's phone went off in his pocket. Katsuki drew back regrettably as Izuku fished it out. He answered it without untangling himself from Katsuki's arms. "Hi, Mom."

Katsuki was close enough he could hear Inko on the other line but he didn't pay any attention to her. He focused on slowly working his fingers through Izuku's tangle of curls. There was a bit of matting on the back, where the side of his head must have caught some of the blood. Katsuki wrinkled his nose. Izuku needed a real bath soon.

Izuku hung up and put his phone away. "Kacchan?" he asked, getting Katsuki's attention. "Mom wanted to know if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight. She's making something special because of the exam."

With a smirk, Katsuki asked, "Can I stay the night?"

"I don't think she'll mind," Izuku said with a smile. "I know I won't."

Wanting to feel that smile against his own lips, Katsuki kissed him again.

* * *

Later that night, Inko paused outside of Izuku's door. Usually, she could hear them snoring by this time of night but as she leaned close, she heard them whispering instead. She smiled fondly at the sound. It reminded her of when they were younger, not wanting to go to sleep quite yet because they were just so excited about every little thing.

It made sense that they'd still be worked up from the exam. From their stories at dinner, they both were sure that they had passed. She'd been nervous about Izuku managing to get in, but was proud of how far he'd come.

Inko stepped away, smiling and headed down the hall to her own room. She had had her reservations when Izuku had first brought Katsuki home when they were twelve, but in the months that followed, she had to admit the truth. She hadn't seen anyone care about Izuku the way Katsuki did. He still had a temper and a vulgar mouth, and he might get a little rough, but Izuku never came home with injuries anymore. Katsuki had learned his limits and Izuku, as a result, had a dear friend to spend time with.

It was a win-win situation for everyone. Even for Inko herself. Being a Pro Hero was dangerous, but with Katsuki there to protect Izuku, she wasn't worried about him as much as she used to be. Izuku would have his dream and Inko would still have her son safe.

Inko went to bed comforted by that thought.

* * *

[Part 6 of 6]


	11. Intermission: Immersed

_Warnings: Lotta that softcore gay fluff._

* * *

 **Intermission: Immersed  
swallowed in pleasure**

* * *

The door swung open hard enough that it bounced off the wall and came swinging back before Izuku could stumble, backward, over the threshold. Katsuki had one of Izuku's hands in his and the other hand holding Izuku by the front of his black school uniform jacket. "Ka-kacchan," Izuku panted out, "Our shoes."

"Uh huh." Katsuki herded Izuku into the entryway, kicking the door shut with his heel. "What about them?" he asked as he herded Izuku towards the wall.

Izuku rolled his eyes. "Off, off with our shoes."

Katsuki pinned Izuku's hand to the wall with his own and leaned in, whispering, "Yeah? And what else?"

Izuku couldn't answer immediately because Katsuki cut him off with a series of quick kisses. The whole walk back from the beach had been littered with them, but Katsuki's fervor had only increased when they'd discovered the front door locked and had had to stop to unlock it. Considering it was the middle of the afternoon, there was only one reason they knew that Inko would lock the front door.

They were alone in Izuku's home.

Pulling back when he had to get a full lungful, Katsuki smirked at Izuku. Izuku blinked, feeling dazed and warm and pleasant from his head to his toes. Katsuki reached up and trailed his fingers through Izuku's hair. He wrinkled his nose and tugged on a matted curl. "You've got dried blood in your hair, Deku."

Izuku glanced to the side, "Do you want to… Want to help me take care of that?"

Katsuki's cheeks flushed red even as he teased Izuku by tugging his hair again, "Are you too shy to ask me to bathe with you? You? Mister changes in front of me, mister wears my clothes, mister sleeps in my damn bed whenever the hell he wants to?"

"I-it's different now," Izuku said. "Right? Aren't things different now because of… of us?"

"We're still best friends, aren't we?" Katsuki asked. He slid his hand down out of Izuku's hair, along the side of his head and to his neck. His callouses made goosebumps rise on Izuku's skin. The pressure of his fingers, of his nails, on Izuku's skin, made a shiver run down his spine. "The only thing that's changed is we both know that we want more from each other than we want from anyone else."

"Right," Izuku said, "We're best friends." He put his arms around Katsuki's neck and asked, "So if nothing else has changed, we can still bathe together and everything?"

"Uh huh," Katsuki confirmed. He bent his head down and kissed Izuku, pressing him into the wall. Izuku could feel his heart hammering in his chest as Katsuki kissed him again and again. He had once believed he knew what it was like to be the sole focus of Katsuki's attention, but Izuku was quickly realizing that he had had no clue before.

Katsuki was as methodical about learning how to kiss Izuku the best way as he was in fully completely any task laid before him. From the movement of Katsuki's tongue to the shift of his grip on Izuku's nape, he tested what made Izuku's body react the strongest.

When Izuku could no longer stand on his own, Katsuki pulled back. His lips were slick and swollen from their kissing and Izuku couldn't look away from them. "C'mon, idiot," Katsuki said. His voice was rough; his breath uneven. The sound of it made the hair on Izuku's arms stand on end. "Let's get in the bath."

Izuku misplaced the time from the door to the bathroom. He knew that it contained them taking off their shoes and leaving their bags in his room. He knew it also contained another dozen quick kisses. But he set that time somewhere and completely lost track of it in his mind.

He was the one to lock the bathroom door, partially out of habit and partially because he really, really didn't want his mother walking in on them this time. And then Izuku stood there for a moment, staring at the door.

In the corner of his eye he could see the mirror and in the mirror, he could see Katsuki pulling his shirt off.

Slowly, Izuku turned to stare. He'd seen Katsuki strip down plenty of times before- at the beach, before bed, in the locker room at school and even before a bath. He'd watched and not said or done anything even though he'd wanted to so many times. Now he watched openly before swallowing and nerving himself up to act.

Izuku crossed the space between them and slid his hand up Katsuki's side. He ran his fingers over the soft skin and then the other boy's ribs. All the while, he looked up to Katsuki's face.

Katsuki paused for a moment in pulling off his shirt but then finished shrugging out of the cloth and tossed it into the corner with his school jacket. "What?"

Izuku shook his head. He brought up his other hand, palm flat against Katsuki's abdomen and then moving up slowly. He felt the rise and fall of Katsuki's breath and then his heartbeat when his hand was over the center of Katsuki's chest. "It's nothing, I just… It feels different. A little bit at least."

"What does?" Katsuki asked. He put his hand on Izuku's wrist but didn't pull his hand away. "I haven't changed that fucking much since the last time you saw my chest."

"That's not what I mean," Izuku said. He retracted his hands, faltering for a moment. Unbuttoning his own clothes, he pulled them open and said, "You do it. See what you feel."

Katsuki hesitated but Izuku was patient. He had to be, with Katsuki as his best friend. Sometimes Katsuki exploded into action and other times he took a bit longer to decide what he wanted to do. In the end, though, Izuku knew that Katsuki would do what he'd ask, as long as he didn't find it moronic.

His touch started light, just fingertips, skimming across Izuku's skin. Katsuki's fingers followed the muscle pattern of Izuku's chest. As he reached the top, he pressed his palms against bare chest and slid them down. Izuku shivered down to his toes, his breath stuttering and eyelids fluttering shut.

"Oh," Katsuki said. His voice was a whisper. "Yeah."

Izuku smiled.

Katsuki ran his hands back up, to Izuku's shoulders. He slid them under the edges of his shirt and pulled the cloth down and off of Izuku. Tossing the clothes into the same pile, Katsuki took a step back to look at Izuku's bare chest. "You never scar," he said. "You haven't scarred from a single death."

Izuku looked down at himself and then shrugged. "I don't heal the normal way. When I get hurt I just reset my whole self and it regenerates. If I keep doing that, I might never scar."

Katsuki nodded. He gave Izuku one more look before he said, "I'll start the bath." He turned and went to the tub.

"Okay," Izuku said, "I'm going to get the blood off first." He stripped out of the rest of his clothes. It was chilly in the bathroom, or at least, his skin felt strangely more sensitive than before. He watched as Katsuki fiddled with the faucet to get the right temperature for the bath- just this side of scalding.

Stepping into the shower area, Izuku turned it on to wet his hair and wash out the blood. He closed his eyes, letting the water run over him and warm his skin. Opening them again, he watched as the blood swirled on the bathroom floor and to the drain. It wasn't the first time he'd washed off his own blood. Some of his earliest experiments had left him so bloody he'd had to scrub it out from under his nails.

"Here," Katsuki suddenly said from very close. Izuku jumped as he looked up to see Katsuki standing behind him. "Sit down, Deku." The command was a typical one, especially for their bathing time, but Katsuki's cheeks were flushed. He'd been blushing more and more since they had kissed at the beach, Izuku noticed as he took a seat. He certainly liked the way Katsuki blushed but he wasn't sure why it kept happening.

Standing behind Izuku, Katsuki lathered soap in his hair. It was a familiar touch but that meant nothing when it still sent sparks down Izuku's spine. He sat up straighter, mouth clamped shut, so he didn't let out a noise. Katsuki's nails scratched at his scalp, hitting all the points that made Izuku's back arch against his control.

Even the rinsing was somehow more intense, as Katsuki combed his fingers through Izuku's hair to help the water clean it out. Izuku closed his eyes and tilted his chin up to help. The water pulled away. Katsuki's hand slid up his throat and cupped his chin. Katsuki tilted Izuku's head back a little more and to the side.

Izuku managed to open his eyes just in time to see Katsuki bend down to kiss him. He held tightly onto the stool to keep from falling because of the angle. He didn't want to stop kissing Katsuki because he fell off.

"The water's ready," Katsuki said against his lips. "Are you?"

Nodding in agreement, Izuku let Katsuki pull him up. He walked over to the bath feeling warm already, while Katsuki turned off the shower behind him. Izuku let out a little hiss as he got in the hot water. It began to relax his muscles the longer he was in there, though.

Katsuki climbed in after him, sighing as he settled in the water. Izuku automatically leaned against the opposite side of the tub, facing Katsuki, like he usually did. He lay his head against the outside, closing his eyes as he relaxed. Katsuki, on the other side, sank down to his chin.

For a while, they soaked in silence, doing nothing more than enjoy each other's company. The water was too hot to think or to move and so Izuku sat there with a smile. As it began to cool, however, he felt a ripple on the water's surface.

Peaking open an eye, Izuku caught Katsuki getting up to his knees. Katsuki froze when Izuku looked at him and then, slowly, continued to move. He was crawling forward through the water, heading towards Izuku's side.

Izuku's heart began to race the closer Katsuki got. He lifted his head and watched as Katsuki came to a stop in front of him. Without thinking much of it, Izuku spread his legs so Katsuki could inch closer. Then he reached for his friend and pulled him in.

Again, it didn't seem to matter how many times before their bodies had touched in the bath. Each brush of skin to skin was like an electric charge. Izuku had felt that way before, a time or two before, when he couldn't help but notice Katsuki's body and how much he'd wanted to touch him, but this was different. This was Katsuki looking at him intently. This was Katsuki's hands under the water, lifting Izuku's legs so he could find a comfortable spot. This was Katsuki who knew Izuku wanted him- a Katsuki who wanted Izuku as well.

"Kacchan," Izuku murmured as Katsuki leaned in against him. "Kacchan, please," his hips moved up of their own volition.

If Katsuki was at all uncertain about what Izuku wanted, he didn't seem to show it. Nor did he bother to ask. He closed the distance between them and began to kiss Izuku. He'd already gotten better than those first kisses on the beach, while Izuku felt he could barely keep up.

Izuku wrapped his arms around Katsuki's shoulders and his legs around Katsuki's hips. As he pulled Katsuki closer, the kisses got more intense and left them both breathless. Katsuki rocked against Izuku, slowly at first, until he found the angle that made Izuku's head tilt back.

"There," Katsuki muttered to himself, "Like that." He ground against Izuku harder. Their cocks rubbed against each other with each press of Katsuki's hips. Izuku groaned, unable to keep silent since Katsuki wasn't kissing him anymore. Instead, Katsuki's mouth was at his throat and then lower, at the junction of his neck and his collarbone. He panted, his breath hot on Izuku's flushed skin.

"More?" Izuku asked, his fingers curled in Katsuki's hair, "Kacchan?"

Katsuki grinned at him. He too was flushed red across his cheeks and ears. His hair was damp and tangled, though not as badly as Izuku's. He moved one hand from Izuku's leg, that held him in place, and said, "Yeah okay. I'll give you some more."

Izuku bit his lip, hard, as Katsuki's hand wrapped around his cock. His hips bucked up into that touch, desperate for more.

"Gimme your hand," Katsuki demanded while he stroked. Dazedly, Izuku complied and untangled one hand from Katsuki's hair. Katsuki pulled it down under the water and put it on his own cock. "There," he panted, closing the distance to Izuku's lips again, "Now we can take care of each other."

The next kisses were bruising and biting. Izuku's attention fluctuated from Katsuki's teeth digging into his lips to Katsuki's hand pulling at his cock. Nothing else mattered in the world but what Katsuki was doing to him and what he was doing back. They rocked together in the water of the tub, sloshing it back and forth in their eagerness.

Between two kisses that threatened to steal Izuku's breath away, he gasped out, "Kacchan, I'm gonna-"

Katsuki cut him off with the kiss. His hand moved faster. Izuku's back arched and he came with a muffled cry.

Sagging back against the bath wall, Izuku blinked up at Katsuki. He was met with a burning red stare as Katsuki let go of Izuku's cock and began to work on his own. Izuku squirmed a little under the attention. His eyes kept glancing down to the water, where he could see Katsuki's hand at work.

Suddenly, Katsuki leaned in and kissed him hard enough to break the skin of his lip with his teeth. Izuku let out a little gasp, tasting his own blood, and that's when he felt a shudder run through Katsuki's body.

When he was spent, Katsuki's body went limp and he lay heavily on Izuku. Izuku held him, not minding the weight, and smiled when Katsuki pillowed his cheek on Izuku's shoulder. Izuku closed his eyes, enjoying the embrace.

They didn't say anything, nothing needed to be said. Izuku could feel Katsuki's breath evening out and his own heart rate was slowing down. The water was gross, sure, but they could rinse off again afterward. It wasn't as though they hadn't gotten blood on each other before. What was a little semen?

What mattered the most, in Izuku's opinion, was the way Katsuki trailed a fingertip over the thin skin of Izuku's throat. Not mindlessly, not in a meaningless pattern, but a phrase. He moved his finger slowly at first, so Izuku could catch on.

I love you. Katsuki's finger spelled out.

Izuku smiled and held on a little tighter.

* * *

Inko came home with the groceries to find the boys napping on the livingroom couch together. Katsuki was on the outside of the couch, facing Izuku, with an arm around him. Izuku was curled up, his head tucked under Katsuki's chin.

It was a sweet sight, looking at the way Katsuki lay protectively by Izuku's side. Or at least, that's what it looked like to her with the way he took the most dangerous position and how Izuku kept so close and safe.

Two years ago, she never would have believed it possible for Katsuki to change his ways. Now, she smiled and shook her head at catching them napping before she'd even made dinner!

"They must be exhausted from the exam," she murmured to herself as she went into the kitchen to cook. "I'll let them sleep a little longer. They'll need all they can get before they get into Yuuei."

Not for one second did she doubt that they had gotten in. Her Izuku? With Katsuki there to help him?

Well, nothing could stop her son if he had Katsuki and her support behind him, not even his quirkless history.

* * *

[Part 1 of 1]


	12. Intermission: Cold One

**Intermission: cold one**  
 **you're buying this round, right?**

* * *

Despite his status as a pro hero and a high school teacher, Kan Sekijirou had a few vices that he indulged in from time to time. Most notable of them all was perhaps his preference to get drunk in seedy bars on his off days. He had a few favorite haunts that he visited and on this night he'd chosen the Bloody Giant Pub.

As the clock neared eleven, he sat at the bar near the end, his second drink half-finished and engaged in a conversation with the man next to him. Sekijirou knew this fellow better than some of the other patrons that night at the Giant. They frequented the same bars and by chance, often on the same nights. Sekijirou didn't mind the company one bit, as Gomiko always had a quick mind and a depth of conversation topics that made him able to hold a decent conversation with just about anyone.

"...beautiful country out there," Gomiko was in the middle of saying. He had his phone out and the two of them were looking at some pictures he'd taken of the countryside. "It's like what you usually just see pictures of," he said, swiping across the screen. "Green hills full of crops and people steadily working them day and night. You get the right vantage point from above and you can see a patchwork for miles and miles."

Sekijirou gave a low whistle of appreciation. "Damn. I sure wish I could go off on a vacation like that."

"It was less of a vacation than you might think," Gomiko said with a chuckle as he turned off the screen and slid his phone away. "My partner at the clinic needed to conduct a few, ah, tests. I had to go help haul things and make observations. Part work, part pleasure, but some good looking surroundings to get stuck in for two weeks."

"I know how that goes," Sekijirou said with a shake of his head. "We just had the entrance exams at the school."

Gomiko snapped his fingers, "Yuuei, right? The school year started up again already?"

"Sure has. It feels like it gets here quicker every year." Sekijirou sighed. He drained the last of his beer and set down the glass. "We had quite the spectacle this year. A good showing for sure. We'll have two full classes at least from all the ones that tested."

"That's good," Gomiko said. "I remember hearing about how intense that exam was a few years ago, what with all the robots and the practice city." He waved over the bartender with one hand and gestured to his own empty drink and to Sekijirou's. "Hey, another round for the two of us, eh, Miko?"

The bartender gave them a nod and floated over a couple of beers. With a flick of her wrist, she popped the lids with her telekinetic quirk and deposited them in the trash. Gomiko gave her a little salute with his drink that Sekijirou mimicked once he had his.

"Say," Gomiko said, "Do you remember that one year? Where someone knocked over that big damn cheat robot from the exam and it rocked the ground so bad half the city thought there was a quake?"

Sekijirou laughed, "I sure do. The model of all the robots had to be adjusted after that, to prevent them from tipping over so badly." He sipped his drink to wet his throat. "You know, we had something similar happen this time around too. One of the examinees punched the chest out that, what did you call it, cheat robot?"

"Yeah, because you say it's not worth points but reacting to it makes or breaks a lot of examinees. Kagaya bitched about the thing for three weeks after her exam."

"Right. Well, we had one student just jump into the air All Might style and wham!" Sekijirou punched his fist into his palm with a satisfying slap. "He punched a hole right through the center chassis. Tore up his hand something awful, from what I heard, but any bigger of a hole and he would have torn the thing right in half."

Gomiko sat back, brows lifting slightly, "No shit. Hell of a punch for a kid. How old are they in the entrance exam, fourteen?"

"Most of them, yeah. We get a few older teens from time to time that we allow into the senior classes, but you only get one shot." Sekijirou said. "That's it."

"Oh, I know that rule," Gomiko rolled his eyes. "I certainly fucking know that rule."

Before Sekijirou could reply, someone cleared their throat behind the two seated men. They turned to look and Sekijirou blinked in surprise. "Tessa?"

It always took Sekijirou a moment to recognize the woman. Outside of her business attire or her heroics uniform, Tessa dressed strictly for comfort. Her dark hair was loose and hung around her shoulders, held away from her face with a single simple white clip. She wore a nondescript jacket over casual clothes. Ultimately, it was her eyes that Sekijirou always recognized. The sharp blue against the yellowed sclera was both odd and striking.

She gave a slight smile to Sekijirou before her eyes flicked to Gomiko. Looking back to Sekijirou, she said, "I got your text."

"Oh. You didn't have to come out all this way for-" Sekijirou started.

"I wanted to discuss it in person as soon as possible." She said. Her eyes cut to Gomiko and narrowed. "Privately. If you don't mind."

"Sure thing," Gomiko said with a shrug and a little smile. Sekijirou gave him an apologetic look but Gomiko put up a hand to stop him from saying anything. Patting Sekijirou's arm, Gomiko said, "Don't worry about it. We'll catch up later. There's always time." He picked up his drink and slid off his stool. With that quick goodbye, Gomiko stepped away.

Tessa watched him go with a glare. When he was gone, she took the stool to the right of Sekijirou. "Did you tell him about what you found?"

Sekijirou frowned, "Tessa-"

"Did you tell him or not?" Tessa insisted, leaning in. She was smaller than Sekijirou so she looked up at him from her seat. She also sat with her shoulders hunched in, as if trying to appear as small as she could.

"I didn't," Sekijirou said. "Tessa, what does that matter? It's just a curious little thing."

She looked at him like he was stupid. Sekijirou grits his teeth a little bit, "Okay. So it's not a little thing. What is it, then?"

"I can't really talk about it until I know for sure," Tessa said. "Did you collect any of the blood from the site?"

"I didn't. I couldn't. The whole place was being cleaned up for later use," Sekijirou said.

"But you're sure that it was enough blood kill someone?" She leaned in even more. One of her hands slid across the bar and gripped Sekijirou's sleeve. "I'm not talking about a little puddle, Sekijirou. I need to know how much was left behind. A liter? Two? Four?"

"At least three," Sekijirou said, cautiously. "Not enough to survive from. Tessa, what is the big deal? Is this part of an investigation or something else?"

Tessa looked around them nervously before she lowered her voice to explain. "A bit of both. I got pulled in for an investigation on strange blood splatter residue a couple of years ago. They iced the case but I still have access to it. There's something in the blood, Sekijirou. And Bakugou-san gave me permission to check it out on my own so long as I don't fuck up her labs. You need to tell me everything about that blood you found. Where you found it. Who left it behind. Everything."

An uneasy feeling settled in Sekijirou's gut. He wished he'd kept talking to Gomiko instead. He usually enjoyed Tessa's company as much as he enjoyed Gomiko, as he had taken each of them to bed at one point or another, but they were fundamentally very different people. Gomiko was a terrible flirt, an unabashed one. Sekijirou had no doubt he'd gone to someone else in the bar to chat and flirt with while Tessa had taken his spot. Tessa, on the other hand, could be so hyper-focused on something that she didn't have any awareness of how others perceived her.

And it was clear that whatever was going on with this blood splatter, she had fixated on it.

Warily, Sekijirou tried to avoid directly answering her. "I don't know the details of the situation. I was called in after the fact, because of my blood controlling quirk. I was asked to clean up the pool and dispose of the blood."

"Dispose of it? Where? When? How long ago?"

"At the school biological waste site," Sekijirou said, "Tessa, what's so special about this blood?"

She drummed her fingers on the bartop. Tessa glanced around again nervously. Sekijirou resisted the urge to do the same. He kept a steady look on her face as he reached out to calm her drumming fingers. "Tess, talk to me. I want to help you if I can."

"There are markers in the blood. Unusual ones. I don't know how to explain it," she said, "Like there's something extra there but I can't see it. I can taste it, though. You know, with the use of my quirk. I can taste that something is there."

Sekijirou grimaced. Whether it was the half-whisper she used or the way her eyes widened as she said those words, she sounded crazy. Having spoken to her often before, Sekijirou knew that she probably wasn't.

Tessa ran a distracted hand through her hair, brushing it from her face. "I can't tell you much. It's very classified, Sekijirou. But if want to help me, you could. It'd be so simple." Her eyes were pleading as she looked up at him. She took his hand in both of hers.

"Would you help me, Sekijirou?"

Warily, Sekijirou asked, "What would you need me to do?"

"I'm trying to find the source of that blood. That blood you found isn't the first of its kind. There were at least a dozen pools left in various places over the last two years and we never found a source to them. All I need you to do is find out who bled and tell me their name." Tessa smiled a little. She wasn't one for smiling, but it made her look pretty when she did it. Sekijirou swallowed, watching her face shine with hope.

"It might take a while-"

"That's all right."

"And I might only get a list of people who were in that area at the time."

"Anything helps," Tessa said. "I've been searching for this for two years, Sekijirou. Any new information is progress now." She squeezed his hand and asked again, "Would you help me? Please?"

Sekijirou nodded. "I'll do what I can."

* * *

[Part 1 of 1]


	13. Asphyxiation 1

_We're back at it. 'Asphyxiation' will be seven parts. Enjoy as we start ramping up the plot shit._

* * *

 **Asphyxiation : Summary**

* * *

 _Katsuki and Izuku have passed the entrance exam and are now enrolled in Yuuei. They're in the same class, sitting side by side, as they always promised they'd be._

 _No one is prepared for them: not their classmates, not their teachers, not even the villains that attempt a surprise attack on them during the middle of a training session._

* * *

 **Asphyxiation 1: new class; new rules  
** _The ups and downs of the first day._ **  
**

* * *

"Kacchan, I'm sorry!" Izuku called as he trotted after Katsuki. Of course, he didn't get a reply. "I really, really am!" He rushed to catch up, reaching out to Katsuki and grabbing his arm.

Katsuki didn't shake him loose but did glare at him. "We're going to be fucking late, Deku! You said you'd be out here twenty minutes ago! I got sick of fucking waiting."

"I'm sorry Kacchan," Izuku said, walking at his side now. He easily kept up with Katsuki's swift pace. After walking at his side for two years, that wasn't any trouble. "I just couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited and then when I finally fell asleep I only got a few hours! Please forgive me."

Katsuki scowled. "Why the fuck should I? You're just going to be late again tomorrow."

"I'm really sorry, though." Izuku insisted, "I don't mean to stay up! I try to sleep, I swear! I'm just… It's so much. So soon! There's so much going _on."_

Katsuki scoffed, "So you're telling me you just need to be exhausted before going to bed and then you'll sleep?"

"Yes? But not too exhausted. I don't want to be too tired to sleep!" Izuku said.

"How does that even work, wait," he put up his hand, "that was rhetorical. Don't tell me." Izuku obediently kept silent and apologetic looking.

Katsuki hooked his arm around Izuku's neck and dragged him closer, "Fine. I'll fucking forgive you, this time, Deku. I know how helpless you are to your own shitty brain sometimes." He ended his words with a quick kiss, nipping at Izuku's bottom lip as he did it.

Izuku eagerly met his kiss and was smiling when they pulled apart. "Thank you, Kacchan."

"Now _come on."_ Katsuki adjusted his bag over his shoulder as he stepped away, "We're going to be fucking late if you don't get a goddamn move on."

Izuku lit up, "Wanna race?"

Katsuki grinned.

* * *

 ** _BANG!_**

The door to the classroom vibrated from an impact on the other side. Tenya was out of his seat already so he hurried over to it to see what was going on. Just before he reached it, the door slammed open and two students- and they had to be students because of their uniforms- toppled in, locked in a grapple. The blond was unfamiliar, but Tenya came up short when he recognized the dark hair and green eyes of the other one.

"You little FUCK!" Shouted the blond from the floor. He twisted around, rolling them both until he had the other boy pinned. His forearm was pressed down his throat, "That was a cheap fucking tactic, you little shit. Where did you learn that?"

The other boy just grinned up at him. His breathing was raspy and Tenya suddenly realized that the boy on top was choking the other one.

"What are you doing!" He exclaimed, stepping forward, "You cannot treat another student this way!"

"Oh shove off," the blond said with a sneer up at him. "Who the fuck do you think you are, anyway?" His question was followed by a yelp as the pinned boy took advantage of the distraction to dislodge the arm and wriggle free.

"Kacchan," he said as he escaped, "Don't be a spoilsport. I won!" Still sitting on the floor, he scooted back for freedom.

"You fucking cheated you little bastard," the blond, 'Kacchan', snarled as he lunged for the other one again, "You used your damn quirk didn't you?"

"Did not! You know I didn't!" He caught the hands that came for him and held them to the side. "I promise I didn't cheat, Kacchan." They struggled, with the blond pushing forward on his hands as he knelt in front of the dark haired boy, holding him back. "I'll tell you how I won if you agree that I won."

"I don't care how you won, Deku," was the reply.

"Really? Not even a little bit?"

The blond narrowed his eyes and huffed. "Fuck you. Tell me later, you shithead."

"Okay!"

And then he leaned forward and _kissed the other boy on the mouth._

Tenya took a step back, his face burning with his surprised blush. He looked around to see the other students blinking in shock, some of them covering their mouths and others blushing as well. Looking back at the two, he found them getting up and brushing themselves off as though nothing had happened. They even helped each other straighten up.

"You got a bit of something-" the shorter one said, reaching up to flick something out of blond hair. "There. Got it."

"You idiot, look at your shitty tie," said the blond, reaching to adjust it. The was a roll of green eyes as he stood patiently to let the boy who had just nearly choked him on the floor adjust his tie without any qualms.

With a satisfied nod, the blond stepped back and began to rifle through his pockets for something. The dark haired one smiled at him for a moment before looking to the class. "Oh! Good morning everyone!" He waved a hand.

"Good morning," Tenya said reflexively.

"My name is Midoriya Izuku," Midoriya said with a little bow. "And this is my friend, Bakugou Katsuki."

"Ah, found it," Bakugou said, pulling out two papers. He read over one and then gave a little nod. "Here, Deku." He handed over the second paper to Midoriya. "Find your damn seat."

Midoriya read his paper and then leaned over to look at Bakugou's, "Hey, we're right next to each other!"

"Oh no," someone whispered from back in the room. Bakugou's eyes flicked up and narrowed as he searched for the speaker. Midoriya didn't seem to even notice. He was smiling at Tenya, asking, "Who are you?"

"Iida Tenya," Tenya heard himself say. Then he straightened up and cleared his throat. "We've met before, during the entrance exam?"

Midoriya beamed. "I remember! You have the engine speed quirk, right? That must have been really handy in such a timed test! You said your name was Iida, right? There's a hero with that family name, are you related to him?"

Tenya found himself nodding without even thinking about it. "Yes, actually, my brother-"

"Oh my god, it's you!"

Tenya shut up as a shout came from the doorway of the classroom. He heard someone muttering about a lot of commotion before class even started as he looked up to see a girl bouncing forward. Her brown hair swayed as she came up to Midoriya's side. "You!" She cried, "You made it here and- and- your arm!"

Midoriya seemed as blindsided as Tenya felt, staring wide-eyed at the girl as she lifted up his right arm and turned it left and right. She pulled up the sleeve, even, exclaiming, "I thought maybe it was a robot arm because it just exploded like that but this doesn't feel like a robot arm at all! Uwahh! Does that mean that was your real hand that you lost?"

"Uh-" Midoriya stammered, "I- I-"

"Oi! Bitch!" Bakugou, who had wandered off to find his seat, came storming back over. "Hands off!" He grabbed Midoriya's other arm and pushed back the new girl with his other hand.

"Kacchan-" Midoriya started.

"Hey!" Exclaimed the girl.

"This is nuts," said a student to Tenya's left. "Who the hell are these two?"

"You all have far too much energy this morning. In your seats. Now."

Tenya, along with many of the other students, jumped at the sudden voice. He turned to see a man in a yellow sleeping bag standing in the doorway. There was a heartbeat of silence and then a faint voice from the crowd of students asked, "S-sensei?"

"That's right. Seats. Now." He shuffled into the room and to the desk at the front.

There was a scramble for chairs afterward. Tenya got to his quickly and was startled to discover the girl who had come in last to be sitting next to him. Quietly, he introduced himself to her. She gave a little smile and returned the favor before glancing back to the part of the room where things were still noisy.

"Who are those two?" She asked, rubbing her shoulder.

After giving her their names, Tenya answered honestly, "They're just trouble."

Uraraka laughed which made Tenya have to clear his throat. He'd never really made a girl laugh before. "Well, I'll be careful around them, I guess." She said, "It's kind of surprising that they'd let someone like that Bakugou in."

Remembering the way they had wrestled together, Tenya suggested, "I do not think that Midoriya is much different than his friend. Perhaps, he is just nicer in general, but they seem very similar."

"What?" She asked, "No way!"

Their conversation came to an abrupt halt as their teacher cleared his throat and began to teach the class.

* * *

"He's not really going to kick you out if you fail the hardest," Katsuki hissed as Izuku stepped forward. It was his last shot to prove that he had any sort of control over his quirk at all. The short days that he'd had between the exam and the first day of class hadn't been enough to learn how to control it enough to not break any of his bones, though there had been some progress. It was easy to keep practicing when Izuku could push his body until it was too broken to move and then reset it.

"I've still gotta do my best, Kacchan," Izuku hissed back. "Don't worry."

"And afterward-"

"You'll help me, right?" Izuku asked as he stepped away. He tossed Katsuki a smile but it only got him a glare and an angry fold of his arms. Izuku nervously ran his hand over the inside of his left wrist, where Good Luck typically sat. The short blade wasn't there now, as his uniform only went to the elbow and he couldn't hide it at the wrist. Still, the gesture comforted him.

He picked up the ball and hefted it in his hand a few times. Aizawa watched him silently. Taking a deep breath, Izuku wound up for a throw. He felt the build up of One For All in his arm, charging his muscles. As he wound back, he let the pressure build to its bursting point. Then, swinging forward, he let go, releasing all of his-

The ball flung forward, but not nearly as far as it should have. Izuku stared at his arm numbly and then turned to see Aizawa staring at him unblinkingly. _Eraserhead,_ the name ran through Izuku's head instantly. _He stopped my quirk._

Izuku's heartbeat was so loud in his ears; his breathing a rasp as fear clutched him around the ribs. _Sensei stopped my quirk._ He stood there frozen as Aizawa lectured at him, speaking words that Izuku could barely hear over the internal terror.

 _If he looks at me when I die, will I not come back? I have to know. I have to test it and Know. I- I-_ He felt himself begin to turn to look for Katsuki and sharply stopped himself. No. Not yet. They'd have to talk about that later.

Now he'd listen to Aizawa, who was telling him to pick up the ball again and try one more time. Who was telling him that he had to keep in mind the fact that putting oneself out of commission with one's attacks was the surest way to lose a fight.

Izuku stared at the ball held tightly in his fist. Despite the sudden fear that his death quirk might be stoppable by someone like Aizawa, he understood the man's point.

It just wasn't something that applied to him. He could shatter all his bones, puncture every organ, be suffocated and eviscerated and it didn't _matter_. Once his heart stopped, once he _died_ it never took more than seven minutes for him to come back. Never. Not once in all his hundreds of tests and retests had it gone longer.

Izuku tossed the ball up in the air again. He focused his attention on it, so he wouldn't look at Aizawa, so he wouldn't look at anyone.

Aizawa was trying to make a point. He was trying to teach. Izuku could at the very least be helpful.

He wound up and did it again, this time concentrating his quirk on the smallest point of contact, that last touch of his finger to the ball. He flinched as he let go, as the ball went sailing. While all eyes went trailing after the ball, Izuku looked down to his hand.

From the last knuckle to the tip of his finger was nothing but a few scraps of flesh and exposed nub of bone. "Too much force," he muttered to himself. All Might had told him he could break his body apart with the force, but with training, he'd be able to contain it. Which meant that he needed to train more and use less force.

Quickly, Izuku tightened his hand into a fist. The rest of his finger was completely broken, but that didn't bother him nearly as much. Other than the swelling and discoloration, it wasn't possible to tell if it was actually broken or just sprained. Looking up, he grinned to Aizawa, showing him the back of his fist with his bloody missing fingertip obscured. "I can still fight, Sensei."

He got a begrudging nod as his score was taken down. Izuku didn't even care about the number. He turned and walked back to the group, back to Katsuki.

"Show me," Katsuki hissed, holding out his hand and using his back to obscure the view from the others. Izuku immediately put his hand in Katsuki's. Katsuki growled out a curse and applied pressure to Izuku's wrist to help stem the blood flow. "You idiot. We talked about this. The fracturing is fine but this isn't."

"Sorry, Kacchan," Izuku mumbled.

"You keep apologizing but you keep fucking up." Katsuk reached up and cuffed the side of Izuku's head, "Stop doing both of those things. You've got a damn brain, don't you? Or did you drain it out this morning? Huh? Use it. Fucking moron."

They both had to quiet up for Aizawa's pronouncement- that they all passed and no one would be expelled- after which Izuku was given the instruction to go to the nurse. He fidgeted for a moment after that and said, raising his good hand. Katsuki still held his bad one, his grip on Izuku's wrist cutting off blood flow with how tight it was. "Sensei? Actually, I only need a minute alone to heal?" Izuku explained, "It's part of my enhanced body quirk? I have enhanced healing."

There was a murmur that ran through the group of students at that, but Katsuki didn't say anything. Not that Izuku expected him to. They had come up with that excuse together, after all.

"...I see. Well, then take care of that and get back to class ASAP. The rest of you. Go on." Aizawa dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

* * *

Katsuki ignored the loud-mouthed student that told him that he was supposed to go with everyone else and followed Izuku instead. He had to, actually, since it was his grip that kept Izuku from bleeding all over the damn place. Izuku already had blood collected in the palm of his hand, but that would be easy to wash off. The blood on his gym clothing would be a little more difficult.

"I wish it was red," Izuku muttered as he went into the bathroom. Katsuki just nodded.

They went in together, walking past the stalls to the very last one. Izuku held it open for Katsuki, who was the one to lock it. Grabbing some toilet paper, Izuku wadded it up around his finger. "Okay. I think that'll hold it until we're done."

Then he stood, braced against the bathroom wall. Katsuki let go of his wrist and put his hands on Izuku's throat instead. Izuku's eyes fluttered shut as Katsuki pressed in, thumbs and fingers digging into the soft flesh of Izuku's exposed neck. There were a few gasps of breath and then Izuku stopped breathing entirely.

Katsuki began to count in his head as he pressed in as hard as he could. Izuku's body tensed, but he didn't move. He had learned to stop struggling a long time ago.

Still, Katsuki kept his distance. He'd gotten kneed in the groin once by accident and he wasn't about to have that happen again.

When Izuku went lax, Katsuki continued to hold his grip. Unconscious was not the same thing as dead. He reset his count, though, whispering numbers under his breath. After a few minutes, he slowly relaxed his grip enough for Izuku to breathe.

Katsuki shifted his grip so that he supported Izuku as he came blinking back into consciousness. The first thing Izuku did was roll his head on his shoulders, look up at Katsuki, and smile. Katsuki smiled back and leaned in to kiss him. "Welcome back."

Izuku held up his right hand. "All better?" The finger was whole again, but there was still all the blood.

Katsuki kissed his fingers. "All better."

Izuku smiled and Katsuki couldn't help it, he had to kiss him again.

* * *

They made it back to class, eventually.

Izuku flushed nervously as he hunkered down in his chair. Everyone was staring at them and he was more than a little self-conscious about the mark that was barely hidden by the collar of his shirt.

Katsuki didn't seem at all bothered by the whispering as he took his seat with a smug look on his face. He got right to work and Izuku followed suit. There would be plenty of time to deal with his classmates, but they'd never get anywhere if they slacked in class.

After all, you couldn't be the number one pro hero by skating on a good quirk alone and if Izuku wanted to keep pace with Katsuki, that meant in classwork as well.

They were in _high school_ now.

It was a new world, with new people.

With Katsuki at his side, Izuku couldn't wait to experience all of it.

* * *

[Part 1 of 7]


	14. Asphyxiation 2

**Asphyxiation 2: an isolated pair  
** _First day lunch and teacher conversations. **  
**_

* * *

Katsuki sat back with a sigh when the whole class got dismissed for lunch. "Thank fuck," he muttered, rolling his wrist out and flexing his fingers. He'd forgotten how much taking notes in class _sucked_. Even though it seemed like there would be more practical lessons than a regular high school, they still had history and literature to go through.

Flipping his textbook closed, Katsuki cleared off his desk quickly. Others around were chattering already with their new neighbors. The room was filled with the sound of shuffling papers, closing books, laughter, and chairs being pushed out.

Katsuki ignored all of that and leaned over to the seat next to his. "Oi. Nerd," he said, "We're done with class."

"...which preceded the notion by at least a decade…" Izuku muttered under his breath, not hearing him.

Katsuki got up from his chair and closed the distance with a step. "Hey," he said louder as he kicked Izuku's desk, "Deku. Shut the books and let's fucking go eat. Cafeteria's going to fill the fuck up if you don't jump to it."

Izuku blinked and looked up at him. For a moment he appeared clueless but then the words clearly sank in because he snapped into action, putting away his books and papers. "Sorry Kacchan, I just got really interested in the overview. We're covering _all_ of the histories of heroics! Isn't that fascinating?"

"Don't you already know that shit?" Katsuki said, "Remember that report from, I don't remember, you were ten or some shit?"

Izuku smiled at him. "Yeah! You do remember!"

Katsuki shrugged. Even when he and Izuku hadn't been as close as they were now, he'd always been aware of what the little fuck was doing. Izuku caught Katsuki's attention like a moth to a flame. It was just now the moth was able to touch and protect that flame to keep others away from it.

"Come on. It's time for lunch." He held up one hand that had a cloth-covered bundle and swung it gently. Izuku practically leaped to his feet, fumbling through his clean up.

"Yes, Kacchan!" Izuku hurried to his feet. He automatically reached for Katsuki's free hand, gripping it tightly. "Thank you for making lunch for us." He leaned in, eyes closing. Katsuki knew instantly what he wanted, what he was going for and didn't think twice about meeting Izuku for a quick kiss. It was different than the one from that morning, where Izuku had pecked him quickly in front of the class.

This time, Katsuki was able to kiss back. He didn't have a free hand to grab Izuku, but he could tug him a little closer with their joined hands. Izuku rested his palm on Katsuki's chest, bracing himself during the kiss. When he pulled back, there was a light pink flush that went across the freckles. "Where did you want to eat, Kacchan?"

 _"Cafeteria,"_ Katsuki repeated slowly to Izuku like he was an idiot. Izuku nodded and tugged on his hand leading the way through the seats and to the door. Katsuki caught a couple of their classmates staring but they quickly looked away when he shot them a glare.

"...really is _fascinating,"_ Izuku said as they were walking. He started going over his favorite parts of the lesson, in detail, and Katsuki focused on him instead of the people watching. They didn't matter anyway. Did the river pay attention to the pebbles that it ran over day after day? Of course not.

There was no reason for him to care about any of them when they were just going to be run over the unstoppable force that he and Izuku could become.

* * *

Eijirou was good at making friends, or at least he liked to think so. He had had a few in middle school, a close group that had pretty similar style and interests, so he had been worried about meeting people that he could get along with in high school. He quickly discovered, though, that he wasn't the only one trying to make friends, and that made it so much easier.

Already, he had some people to eat lunch with, namely Kaminari, Sero, Ashido and another girl named Jirou. There were some others of their class around them, but these few were the ones he'd already been talking with. Ashido was the one who picked out their seat, declaring it the best one 'because of the view.'

It wasn't until Eijirou sat down on the same side as her that he understood what she meant. Only one table over sat the already notorious couple of their class: Bakugou and Midoriya.

On Ashido's other side sat another girl, Hagakure, who Eijirou figured was leaning over because her hair scrunchy was moving. "Wait, what did they get to eat? I don't recognize that."

"Bakugou made them lunch," Ashido said, "At least, he carried it here from the classroom."

"I heard Midoriya say that it was Bakugou's cooking," Jirou confirmed as she picked at her own lunch. She had her back to the couple but her hearing was apparently incredible. "How long do you think they've known each other? Those are some pretty childish nicknames."

"Probably forever," Ashido said, "Maybe they're neighbors!"

"...Is this really what we're going to talk about all lunch?" Sero asked. "Don't you guys find it, I don't know, a bit creepy?" He glanced at the other table briefly and then looked down at his food again, "Bakugou seems pretty violent to Midoriya."

"Are you saying it's like, abusive or something?" Eijirou asked with a frown. "He does hit Midoriya a lot."

"Oh no, don't you ruin this for me. This is a cute childhood romance!" Ashido declared.

"It's not a storybook, Ashido," Jirou said, opening her drink with the hiss and pop of a pressurized can. "These are real people. If Bakugou is abusive towards Midoriya, this isn't a healthy relationship."

"But look," Ashido said, "They're sharing their lunch! Bakugou has even fed Midoriya off of his own chopsticks! They're so into each other. Would Midoriya really be so friendly with him if he was scared or trapped?"

Eijirou looked up to the couple in question. They seemed oblivious to everyone else- talking and eating in a small isolated bubble that contained only the two of them. It didn't seem to bother them that there was no one on either side of them. They were isolated from everyone yet were the focus of a lot of attention. Eijirou and his group were not the only group of students staring at them.

It was hard not to stare. They didn't seem to have any concept of what was appropriate for public displays of affection. Bakugou was feeding Midoriya every other bite of food while Midoriya seemed to be talking about something while waving his hands around. Occasionally he'd drop one hand down and reach for Bakugou's hand on the table.

The holding hands probably would have been enough for everyone to stare, but the kissing. _The kissing._

They'd kissed when they'd first gotten to class. Eijirou had seen them kiss in the hallway walking to the locker rooms for gym and then in the locker room too. He hadn't seen them after gym since Midoriya had gone off to heal alone with Bakugou, but he figured they'd done even worse than that.

Then they would do it between classes too, just in the middle of their conversations like kissing was part of the way they talked to each other.

Eijirou put his chin in his hand, idly stirring his food as he stared at Midoriya. What was it like to kiss someone that much? To be so comfortable that you did it without thinking about who was around you? What was it like to kiss someone at all?

He woke from his thoughts with a sharp elbow to his side as Ashido hissed, "Stop _staring_ , oh my god, Kirishima he saw you!"

"Eh?" Eijirou blinked and looked around. Immediately his gaze fell on the strange couple that he'd been staring at unwittingly. Bakugou was half out of his seat, held back by Midoriya who held his wrist and was keeping him back. "Oh. Shit."

"Shit is right," Kaminari muttered, edging away. "If he explodes your ass, do me a favor and don't get any in my lunch."

"Kacchan," Midoriya's voice rose into the air, "Don't. He didn't do anything bad!"

"Are you seriously going to protect every little fucker that crosses your path?" Bakugou shouted back, "Even the rude little shits that stare at you?"

"It's okay." Midoriya tried to soothe, pulling on Bakugou's arm.

Eijirou swallowed nervously. Still, he stood up. He had his quirk to defend himself if he really needed it. "Sorry, I was just staring off into space thinking and wasn't paying attention to what I was staring at. I didn't mean to uh, stare at your boyfriend?"

"Deku is not my boyfriend," Bakugou snapped, but he stopped struggling to escape Midoriya's grasp. "We're best friends. Get that right, fucker."

"Uh," Eijirou almost felt like he should put his hands up like he was surrendering, but he didn't. "Okay. Not boyfriends."

"Kacchan, you're scaring people again," Midoriya scolded. He tugged again and this time, Bakugou turned back to him. "These are our classmates! We shouldn't be scaring them."

"They're nothing to us," Bakugou retorted. Eijirou could barely see it when he turned his arm and gripped Midoriya in return. "Barely even pebbles to be stepped on."

"Well they still have feelings," Midoriya said, his voice lowering.

"I'll show _you_ feelings," Bakugou said and pulled on Midoriya's arm. Midoriya caught himself on the table with one hand but he was still over the top of it and in Bakugou's space. Eijirou flushed as they kissed, _again._

"Oh my god," Ashido said. She cupped her hands around her mouth, "Get a room!"

Bakugou flipped her off with his empty hand.

Eijirou sank down into his seat, feeling weirdly embarrassed and confused. "What the hell even is their relationship?"

"Fucked up beyond all recognition," Jirou said. She looked up at Eijirou like he was a bit dull and added, "Isn't it obvious?"

Considering how, after the kiss, they returned to their lunch as if nothing had _happened_ , Eijirou had to admit that it was pretty obvious. Whatever was going on between Bakugou and Midoriya was something unlike he had ever seen before.

* * *

When they were the last two in the teacher's lounge, Shouta turned towards Toshinori and asked, "Midoriya was the one you chose, correct?"

Toshinori jumped, startled out of the reading he was doing. "What? Oh. Ah. Yes." He shuffled his papers together and cleared his throat. "What was that again?"

"Midoriya." Shouta repeated. "I know you watched when I tested them this morning. Did you stick it out to the end? Did you hear him at the end?"

"He damaged his finger, didn't he? I had to go before the very end but I did see that. Didn't you send him to the nurse for that?"

Shouta shook his head. He turned in his chair to face Toshinori and the action was mimicked back at him. Toshinori's nervousness bled away in the face of his seriousness. "He said he didn't need the nurse. He said that along with his enhanced strength and body came an enhanced healing ability and he just, and I quote, 'Actually, I only need a minute alone to heal'." He arched an eyebrow and asked, "Do you understand why I'm a bit curious as to whether or not he's the one you chose as your successor? I wasn't aware you had any enhanced healing."

Toshinori frowned. He rubbed his hands together, "How was his finger when he got back to class?"

"Healed." Shouta said. "Interestingly enough, it turns out Bakugou went with him when he went to heal."

"Bakugou doesn't have any sort of healing quirk," Toshinori said. "Neither do his parents, although his mother's adaptive quirk could be close."

Shouta blinked. "You looked into the boy's family?"

Toshinori grimaced. "He… He has been hanging around Midoriya since the moment I met him. On the one hand they are very close friends. On the other I've seen him at least attempt to injure Midoriya severely. I'll be honest. I do not understand how their relationship works."

Shouta remembered seeing the two of them standing almost shoulder to shoulder, Bakugou holding Midoriya's wrist tightly. They kept themselves at a small distance from the others, whispered to each other, sat next to each other in class and, from the sound of it, shared their lunch with only each other too. "They're… close. Perhaps dangerously so. We should do what we can to help them… open up to others. New partners. New friends. Or at least new ideas."

Toshinori smiled. "Yes. I was thinking the same thing. I'm worried that if this goes on unchecked for to much longer, there won't be any way to separate their paths."

Shouta nodded. He turned back to his desk. "I think I have just the exercise for that. Here." He picked up a page and handed it over to Toshinori, "Read over this and let me know what you think."

* * *

[Part 2 of 7]


	15. Asphyxiation 3

**Asphyxiation 3: backfire  
** _plans can be counterproductive and have unexpected results. **  
**_

* * *

Izuku couldn't stop grinning.

When All Might had instructed them all to get their hero suits on, he _knew_ something exciting was about to happen and he couldn't wait. That same feeling thrummed in the air of the locker room as the rest of the boys changed into their own hero costumes. There was chatter and showing off of pieces of gear as everyone stripped out of school uniforms and up into their unique pieces.

Pulling off his shirt, Izuku turned to speak to Katsuki and found him half-dressed and staring. Slowly, Katsuki pulled his eyes up from Izuku's body and met his gaze. "It's Friday," he said, a smirk on his lips.

Izuku nodded, swallowing hard. He was pinned down by that gaze, his heart running even faster as he let Katsuki stare as much as he wanted. "Not even a week," Izuku said, "and we get to do some practical lessons. It's fantastic. Don't you think so, Kacchan?"

"Of course." Katsuki agreed, "But I was talking about something else. It's the first Friday, Deku. Don't tell me you forgot what that fucking means."

Izuku blinked in confusion and then it dawned on him. _Friday_. Which meant it was the weekend. Which meant that their first week of school would be over. Which meant they should _celebrate_. He felt his face flush as he nodded, "Yeah! Okay. Where do you want to go?"

"It's a surprise," Katsuki said as he pulled on the pants to his uniform. "We'll go out Saturday, okay? In the afternoon."

"Are you two going out on a date?" asked Mineta as he cautiously poked his head around one of the other students. "Did you just make date plans?"

"Fuck off, shitwipe," Katsuki snapped.

"It's a celebration, Mineta," Izuku explained, "Kacchan and I have been planning to get into Yuuei together for two years. And we not only made it in, we survived a whole week. So we're here to stay." He zipped up the front of his uniform and searched for his belt in the container.

"You don't have to explain shit to him," Katsuki said to Izuku.

"I know," Izuku said, "But it's only polite, Kacchan."

"Tch," Katsuki lifted his foot to the bench and bent to tie his boot up. "Shitty Deku," he grumbled to himself. Izuku rolled his eyes, smiling fondly.

He glanced over to see if Mineta had any other questions and saw a few heads turn quickly away. It wasn't the first time he'd encountered that so it didn't bother him too much anymore. He and Katsuki were close and people didn't seem to understand why.

Looking to Katsuki, who stood next to him, who practically used him as a barrier between himself and the rest of the class, Izuku didn't understand why _they_ didn't understand. Couldn't they see what an incredible hero and person Katsuki was? How dedicated he was? How determined? He'd come so far, done so much for Izuku, and all he had asked for in return was that Izuku does his best as well.

"The fuck are you looking at, nerd?" Katsuki snarled when he caught Izuku staring.

"I love you," Izuku said, unprompted. For a half a second, Katsuki's eyes widened and his cheeks turned pink. Izuku leaned in, closing the distance to kiss him gently.

Katsuki bit his lip before he managed to pull away. Then he gripped Izuku's chin and said firmly, "Do _not_ fucking spring that on me like this, you little shit. We have a fucking class to get to. It's not like I can fucking reciprocate like this." He gestured to himself and to Izuku as he said that.

Izuku beamed. Katsuki still couldn't say he loved Izuku back, but he was able to show it and that's what mattered. "Then later? After school?"

Katsuki grunted in agreement. "Your place." He leaned in and kissed Izuku, without the bite this time. It was warm and firm and held a promise of so much more. Izuku's knees trembled and he had to brace himself on Katsuki's solid, and currently bare, chest.

Pulling away, Katsuki grumbled, "C'mon. Finish getting dressed, you fucking idiot."

Izuku absentmindedly licked his lips and turned to do so.

* * *

Toshinori looked over the crowd of students with pride warming his heart. They looked eager and determined. This would be their first test, their first chance to really prove themselves and he could tell they were excited about it. Some, it seemed, more excited than most.

To say that the hero-worship in Midoriya's gaze didn't affect him would be false. Toshinori had a great deal of affection for the young boy and such a pride in seeing how far he had come. Where once a quirkless, scrawny child had thrown himself into a fight he couldn't win, there stood a strong, self-confident young man who would throw himself into any situation knowing he could get out of it again.

Admittedly, the boy's uniform was a little different than Toshinori expected. He'd thought there'd be more green or blue, but Midoriya was dressed all in red and black. There was a terrifying aspect to his uniform with that color and the grinning mask he wore over his mouth. Even though Toshinori could see his eyes through the clear visor, it only showed the boy's determined look.

With boots that matched Bakugou's except they were red where Bakugou's were orange, and the long-eared hood that covered the rest of Midoriya's head, he looked like a red, black-footed rabbit. There was a moment where Toshinori thought the ears were to represent his own hairstyle in his strong appearance but even that did nothing to change the look.

Simply put, Midoriya standing next to Bakugou in that red and black with that big grinning mask looked like some sort of little murder bunny. And now that Toshinori _saw_ it, he couldn't really _unsee_ it.

Explaining the activity went easily enough. The students didn't bat an eye at pretending to be villains against other teams. As he went through the information, he saw Midoriya shift his attention to Bakugou. There was too much dependency- Toshinori had seen it even more clearly after Shouta had pointed it out.

Swallowing down his nervousness, Toshinori began to separate the kids out into teams of two. The moment he listed Midoriya and Uraraka, he paused, anticipating a meltdown.

What he got instead was Midoriya peering over Bakugou's shoulder to meet the girl's gaze. Bakugou looked straight ahead, brows furrowed and frowning. He did, however, glance over when his teammate- Iida Tenya- was announced.

 _Step one, complete,_ Toshinori sighed silently in relief. So they could handle being on separate teams. That was a good thing. But could they handle fighting against each other?

"Our first combatants will be… Team D as the Villains and Team B as the Heroes! Do your best young students!" He beamed at the class; his gaze was focused on Midoriya and Bakugou.

Again, they acted counter to what he had imagined. Bakugou elbowed Midoriya in the side and said loftily, "You better watch your fucking back, nerd. I'm coming after you."

"Didn't you hear sensei?" Midoriya retorted, "You're defending a bomb. I'm the the one coming after _you. "_

They jostled each other a bit more while Toshinori began to feel like, somehow, his and Shouta's plan hadn't… worked. At all. There was no animosity as the teams separated and were given their ear pieces. Midoriya seemed nervous speaking with Uraraka whereas Bakugou was clearly sizing up Iida's worth.

Clearing his throat, Toshinori guided the other students to an observation location. He gave one last reminder that this was a practice battle and that he could hear them speaking through the earpieces before the teams were sent to prepare.

"How is this going to go?" he overheard the students whispering to each other as they waited.

"Do you think they'll go easy on each other? I mean, they're like… dating or something right?"

"Bakugou go easy on Midoriya? I bet he was just waiting for an opportunity to go all out."

Toshinori cleared his throat again. The students went quiet. He glanced at them and said, "Pay attention to your classmates. You'll be going through the same kind of test, but with an advantage, since you didn't have to go first. When you're out in the field, you should use every advantage you can to ensure the safety of others and the capture of the villain. Understood?"

The students murmured their agreement.

Looking back to the monitors, Toshinori prayed that they hadn't made a mistake in pitting the two boys against each other.

* * *

"Kacchan and I know each other really well," Izuku was explaining to Uraraka as they headed to the building. "Which means that we can predict each other pretty well. I can figure out what kind of plan he'll try to use and he'll be able to figure out what kind of plan that I would use. That's why _you_ have to come up with the plan, Uraraka."

She blinked at him. "What? Me? But I-"

"You're going to be a hero, right?" Izuku asked, "You can do this."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay. Um." She looked up at the building before they stepped inside. "How much do you know about what Bakugou can do?"

"Everything," was Izuku's reply.

"Uh. And do you know anything about Iida's quirk?"

Izuku nodded. "From what I've observed, I have a pretty good idea of how he fights. I don't know how he thinks, though."

"Okay," she nodded and tightened her hands into fists. "Tell me what they can do and I'll see what I can come up with."

* * *

Katsuki shut the door behind himself and brushed off his hands. "That's the last of the shit. Time for part two?"

"With the area prepared for Uraraka's inevitable arrival, it is time to deter our heroes from collecting the weapon!" Iida said in his mock-villain voice. "Go forth, my villainous companion!"

Katsuki stared at him for a second and then rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He headed to the exit, grinning, "I've been itching to go head to head with that little fuck all goddamn summer." With All Might around they hadn't been able to do nearly as much of their mock fighting or experiments or really anything dangerous and thrilling.

He knew that All Might was listening in, so of course he didn't bitch about the man out loud but in his head? Everyone was fair fucking game.

At the door, just before he shoved it open, he looked back to Iida and said, "Don't fucking fuck this up for us. I didn't let you be the damn boss for no fucking reason, shithead." Then he walked out before Iida could reply.

Of course, after a minute or so of spluttering (which Katsuki heard over the comm) Iida denied being made 'the boss' of their villainous duo. Katsuki ignored that too. He had only listened to the obnoxious student because he was an unknown variable. Iida's involvement would make Izuku second guess any of Katsuki's plans because it wasn't _just_ Katsuki he was planning against.

Katsuki walked slowly through the hallway, listening for their voices or footsteps.

He heard nothing.

Coming to a stop, he held his breath and listened intently.

Oddly enough, he heard a small dripping sound.

Dripping usually came from above so-

"Now!" A girl's voice-

From above-

Katuski twisted around to look up and saw Izuku headed towards him, fist first. The girl was jettisoned forward, floating along the ceiling of the hallway. "Fuck!" Katsuki shouted, jumping out of the way and tumbling. Izuku landed so he was between Katsuki and Uraraka. "You sneaky sunnovabitch!"

Izuku put up his fists, eyes focused, "That's just rude, Kacchan. You've met my mother! You're the one who's the son of a bitch."

Katsuki grinned. He tapped his ear and said, "Iida, floating chick is headed up your way. I'll put Deku down for, say, five minutes and then help you deal with her?"

"Can you for sure put him out of commission for five minutes?" came Iida's reply.

"Give or take a few seconds," Katsuki said with confidence. "It depends on how much I hit."

"Go ahead," Iida confirmed.

Katsuki dropped his hand from his ear and in that next instant, Izuku lunged for him.

"You want to put me down, huh," Izuku taunted as Katsuki dodged his initial swing, "Far cry from the first time, isn't it, Kacchan?"

Katsuki caught Izuku's leg from his kick, but the bastard had put a bit of juice into it and it swung him off and bounced him into a wall. Katsuki pulled back, getting to his feet. "You were the one who cried the first time, Deku. But it's good to see you're taking this seriously. I wouldn't want you to come at me half-assed."

"Full ass it is then," Izuku said. "Let's see how bad a villain you can fucking be."

The fighting itself was so quick. They had done this before, though never in costume, though never quite so seriously. Katsuki found his gloves made his flame brighter, hotter, his explosion more violent. He also found that his grenadiers weighted his arms significantly, making his hits take more energy but hit harder.

It was his legs that kept buckling under the force of Izuku's attacks. He used his fire to make up for that, propelling himself around, adding force to his attacks and maneuvering with them.

They kept working towards as stalemate and the thought of that put a bad taste in Katsuki's mouth.

After a parry and a toss from Izuku, Katsuki got shakily to his feet and held his arm out in front of himself. "Let's try a little experiment, Deku."

Izuku came to a stop twenty feet away. Half of his hood had been burnt off, but he still had most of his face covered. "Yeah? What kind?"

"External explosive force," Katsuki said, gripping the pin for his bomb arm, "Direct hit to the chest. How long would you say? Five minutes?"

"Five forty-five," Izuku said, arms up to brace himself, "Less if it's just the chest. I take it you're tired of holding back?"

"Why bother having these if you don't use them?" he said with a shrug.

"Bakugou-" cut in a voice, All Might's voice, in his ear. But it was too late. Bakugou pulled the pin and let the fireball go.

Right before it hit, Katsuki saw Izuku's green eyes light up with orange flame. Then it struck him and spilled around him to the building. Katsuki threw up an arm to protect his face from the flying concrete while the building rocked and teetered. He distantly heard someone screaming while Iida shouted "what just happened!?" in his ear.

As the light faded, dust filled the air of the demolished hallway. There were scorch marks up and down the walls and a hole had been blown in the side of the building. Katsuki started to count under his breath as he walked forwards.

The building listed slightly above him, but he didn't pay attention to that. "Can you finish floaty off or not?" Katsuki asked between his counts. Iida gave him confirmation and so Katsuki didn't give a second thought to that part of the fight.

He found Izuku's shoe, still attached to his leg, and lying close to his other one. In fact, both of his legs were mostly intact up to the hips. Seeing something glittering on the ground, Katsuki bent down and was surprised to find Good Luck. "Must have dropped it to protect it from the blast," Katsuki mumbled. He slid the knife into his pocket, to return to Izuku later.

"Sensei?" Katsuki asked, looking over the bloody smear that used to be Izuku's torso and arms and, well, everything from the hips up. "Do you have visual of me or Deku right now?"

A pause and then, "Your blast destroyed the cameras. Can you … can you confirm Midoriya's status?"

"Unconscious," Katsuki said, eyes staring down at the part of a spine he could see. "He'll be back in five or so minutes, at most. I'm counting. Also, I might have burnt off most of his clothes."

"Might have?" Came the question.

"Uh huh."

That shrill scream came again and Katsuki looked up from the smear of blood. He saw a pink blur go past the hole in the wall and then the scream suddenly cut off. "The fuck was that?" He hurried over to the hole. The building creaked ominously. "Iida?"

"The explosion opened up a large hole up here as well," Iida replied, slightly out of breath. "I was able to crash into her before she got to the bomb and uh… threw her out?"

Katsuki looked down over the edge. He saw the girl floating safely in the air, spinning slightly, and nodded. "Nice job. I think that's a win for us."

"...What, exactly, was that explosion?" Iida asked.

"Eh. A hand cannon, basically." Katsuki said, turning his back on the outside world. Looking to Izuku, he saw some reformation. It was weird, the way he came back. It wasn't all at once and it wasn't from the inside out. It was like a ribbon was unspooling and winding him back together. It took a little longer with things like this, where so much of his body was lost.

Katsuki searched the debris, looking for any pieces that had been blown off. Sticking out from under a rock, he found a few fingers. Lifting the rock he found part of a hand. He took the whole thing over to Izuku, muttering, "A few seconds faster if there are more pieces around…" He didn't find anything else, though.

After five minutes passed, Izuku was whole again, lying on the concrete and surrounded by a smear of blood that had turned black and cooked from the heat of the explosion. He was staring off to the side, not at Katsuki.

"Hey," Katsuki nudged him with his toe. "You lost, nerd."

"What?" Izuku blinked. He rubbed his eyes and turned his head to Katsuki. "Damn it. I thought for sure Uraraka would be able to reach the bomb and rescue it."

"Well, she didn't. Sorry."

"No, you're not." Izuku sat up. He ran a hand through his hair and then seemed to abruptly realize he was naked down to his hips. "Kacchan! You ruined my costume!"

"Make it out of bomb-resistant material next time." He held out his hand to Izuku, who took it and allowed Katsuki to pull him up.

Izuku scrambled to hold up the bottom half of his jumpsuit. The belt and waistband had been burnt off, leaving the cloth loose. "Kacchan! Look what you did to me!"

"Oh quit bitching. Now come here. I won, I get the winner's kiss, we agreed." He pulled Izuku closer and then moved his hands up to Izuku's cheeks. The grenadiers made it difficult to hold Izuku, but he managed.

That first kiss after a death always tasted a little bit like blood, especially if part of Izuku's head was damaged and regenerated. Katsuki didn't mind, though. What mattered more was that Izuku was _alive_ and kissing him. That his mouth was warm and pliant and that he kissed back with the same kind of eagerness.

There was a buzzing voice in Katsuki's ear and he completely ignored it in favor of multiple kisses. Eventually, though, Izuku pulled back and said, "C'mon, it's time to go." His lips were swollen as he spoke, which only made Katsuki want to kiss him more.

He settled instead on picking Izuku up and hefting him over a shoulder.

"Hey!" Izuku shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Can you walk and hold up your pants without looking like an idiot? No. This way, no one will think you're weird."

"Your neck thing is digging into my side," Izuku complained, "And they're going to think I'm weird anyway." He paused and then said quieter, "They already do think I'm weird. Uraraka said so."

Katsuki gave Izuku's ass a comforting pat as he carried him off. "Don't worry. If they keep away because they think you're weird then they don't fucking deserve to know you anyway. You're better than all of them, Deku. You can't fucking forget that. They don't _matter_ like you do."

"Kacchan…"

Katsuki rolled his eyes and ignored the sniffling that he heard. He had his hands on Izuku, could confirm that he was alive and would stay alive for at least the next little while. It didn't matter if Izuku wanted to cry. He always said coming back to life could be a little overwhelming. Katsuki understood.

* * *

"Is it just me," Ashido whispered as Bakugou and Midoriya came out of the thrashed building, "Or are they somehow even _closer_ than before?"

"Well, physically they're closer than normal," Yaoyorozu said quietly. "I don't think we've seen Bakugou carry Midoriya before."

"What the hell happened in there?" Ashido asked, looking at the screens. At least three of them were fuzzy from missing cameras.

Eijirou, standing behind the girls, wasn't looking at the screen at all. He was looking at All Might, who might as well have been made out of stone for all that he moved or breathed. That was what made _him_ worry. All Might wasn't laughing this off. He wasn't ignoring it. He wasn't addressing it in a pithy way. He just stood there. Staring.

It was weird. Really weird.

Eijirou shifted uneasily and looked to Kaminari beside him. Their eyes met and Kaminari said, "Bakugou didn't hold back at all on Midoriya. I thought he was going to kill him with that last attack."

"Do you think his enhancement quirk saved him?" Eijirou asked. "Like how my quirk hardens my skin?"

Kaminari shrugged.

Eijirou bit his lip and looked at the monitor that showed the four students gathered outside of the building. Iida seemed to be apologizing to Uraraka. Bakugou had set Midoriya down and was paying some attention to their argument. His arm was around Midoriya's waist, where Midoriya had to grip his red pants to hold them up.

Midoriya was staring off at something while he leaned against Bakugou's side.

Eijirou shivered.

The moment was broken when All Might turned to speak with them, but Eijirou couldn't get it out of his head. Something had just happened. He didn't know _what_ , but it was something.

With a little shake of his head, Eijirou shook off the oppressive feeling and did his best to listen to All Might. After all, he had his own mission to accomplish soon enough. He didn't have time to worry about the weird things that Midoriya and Bakugou were up to anyway. It wasn't like they were friends or anything.

And yet, All Might's stillness remained with him. What had he seen? What had made him freeze up like that?

Had it been fear or surprise?

What could All Might, number one pro hero, the mightiest hero around, fear?

* * *

[Part 3 of 7]


	16. Asphyxiation 4

**Note: the _underage warning_ applies specifically to this chapter.**

* * *

 **Asphyxiation 4: mutual feelings  
** _today we find out Katsuki's idea of a celebration. **  
**_

* * *

"Mom!" Izuku hitched his backpack up higher on his shoulder as he trots down the hallway, "Mom, I'm headed out!" He went past the kitchen, poking his head in to say goodbye.

Inko sat at the kitchen table, a large photo album laid out in front of her with a myriad of pictures laid out around it. She paused in her cataloging and asked, "Do you need some lunch? Or some money to buy something?"

Izuku shook his head, "Kacchan is making lunch for us. We probably won't be back until tonight. "

"Sounds good. Let me know if the two of you are having dinner here or at Katsuki's." She waved her finger at him, scolding him lightly, "And don't get too dirty outside! You keep getting all your clothes muddy, Izuku. You're fourteen! You really should know better by now."

"Sorry, Mom," Izuku said sheepishly, glancing to the side. His muddy clothes usually had blood on them as well, but Inko would never question the blood if she only saw him rinsing out the mud. She wouldn't even see it. "You know how Kacchan likes to wrestle."

"I know! But please be careful. You're going to go out onto the mountain again, aren't you?"

"Well, I don't know, but probably. Kacchan said it was going to be a surprise, but he also really likes the mountains." Izuku glanced up at the clock on the wall, "And I'm going to be late if I don't go now. Bye! Love you!"

"Love you too, Izuku!" Inko said with a smile. "Have fun!"

"Will do!" Izuku called back as he pulled on his shoes and headed out the door.

As he headed down the street, Izuku's phone chirped in his phone. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. He had just seen who the message was from when he came upon Katsuki walking towards him.

"Hi, Kacchan!" Izuku greeted him, leaning in for a kiss. Katsuki met him for it, curling his fingers in Izuku's shirt collar to keep him close.

Pulling back from the kiss, Katsuki said, "Did you bring what I asked?"

"Uh huh," Izuku said. His cheeks began to burn, "And I have our usual gear." He bit his lip, "Um, what did you want _that_ for anyway?"

"It's a fucking surprise," Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Doesn't that mean anything to you? Surprise."

"Yeah, but Kacchan-"

Katsuki cut him off with another kiss. Izuku tried to talk but Katsuki wasn't having any of it. He eventually gave up and just kissed back until he had to grab Katsuki's arm to support himself. When Katsuki pulled back, this time, Izuku smiled at him.

"Come on," Katsuki said. He took Izuku's hand or tried to. Izuku was still holding his phone, though he couldn't remember why anymore. Katsuki put Izuku's phone in his own pocket and gripped Izuku's hand. "Let's hurry up."

"Where are we going?" Izuku asked, happily walking at Katsuki's side.

"Fucking Christ, Deku. Do you want the surprise to be spoiled?" Katsuki said. "Just shut up until we get where we're going, idiot."

"Okay." Izuku fell silent.

Izuku didn't mind walking in silence with Katsuki. There had been so much that had happened during the week that he still needed time to think it all through. There had been the other classmates, some friendly and some who seemed indifferent to him. There had been the teachers too. All Might had been an incredible teacher, and so had all the others.

He was still a little nervous about Aizawa and his power, though. Not knowing how Aizawa would affect his resurrection quirk was a worry that gnawed at the back of his mind. There was just no way to _test it_. At least, not without telling Aizawa about what he could do and prove that it worked.

Then again, Aizawa probably wouldn't want to use his quirk on Izuku if there was the off chance that he would actually really die and not just sort of die. It was a problem, a considerable one, that Izuku worried about. After all, what if there was a villain out there that could stop quirks as well?

Or what if a villain tried to _copy_ his own?

How would that work? Would they be able to?

"Of course," Katsuki said suddenly. Izuku jerked out of his thoughts to look at his friend. Katsuki saw his bewildered look and rolled his eyes. "You were mumbling again."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's fine. It's not like you can stop your damn brain from running even if you try to shut your fucking mouth." Katsuki shrugged a shoulder, "But to answer your question, of fucking course. It's _your quirk._ That means if someone has a quirk that copies other people's quirks, they can copy yours too."

"I just wish there was some way to test it," Izuku said. "Like with Aizawa. Except with a copycat quirk, I don't know anyone who can do that. I don't think even if we do find one we'd be able to tell them what the test was. Even more so with a copycat."

"We could surprise them, but that's probably a terrible idea," Katsuki said.

"Yeah."

There was a beat and then Katsuki said, "You still want to test it, though. Right?"

Izuku nodded.

"Nerd," Katsuki said tugging on Izuku's hand to pull him closer. He leaned in and whispered into Izuku's ear, "Don't look so damn sad you don't get to test out your fucking quirk. It's fucking depressing like a kicked puppy."

"Kacchan-"

"Maybe something will happen," he whispered, "And if we get the opportunity, we'll try it out, okay?"

Izuku smiled. He smiled broader when Katsuki finished with a kiss on the cheek before pulling away. They stood together at a bus stop with a few other people, far enough away that their whispering couldn't be heard. This was one of their neighborhood bus stops so they didn't a second look by their neighbors that came on or off the bus. Izuku and Katsuki were a common sight on the streets here, even hand in hand.

On the bus, they sat together near the back. Izuku fell back into silence, resting his head on Katsuki's shoulder and watching the world pass outside the window. They held their backpacks on their laps, obscuring the way they held hands there, but only incidentally.

Katsuki occasionally rested his cheek on Izuku's head and at one point Izuku was certain he dozed lightly. Izuku held still and resisted dozing himself. He didn't want to miss their stop just because it was so comfortable he'd fallen asleep at Katsuki's side.

When they did get off the bus, they were the only two who did so at that stop. Izuku grinned as he looked up at the path ahead of them. Katsuki tugged his hand to pull him forward. "Don't get so fucking smug yet, asshole," Katsuki said, "You don't know _exactly_ where we're going."

"That's okay," Izuku said, "If it's with you I know it'll be amazing, Kacchan."

The tips of Katsuki's ears turned red at that and he squeezed Izuku's hand tighter, saying nothing but a mutter of "stupid Deku" under his breath.

Katsuki leads him up the hill that turned slowly from a residential pathway into a mountainside. The first things to fade were the street lamps and the buildings. Then the railings went. And lastly, the boundary walls until all that was left of civilization around them were the stone steps they walked up.

There were a few places where Izuku hesitated, recognizing underbrush paths that they'd taken before, but Katsuki steadily led him up the stairs instead. Near the top of the stairs, where Izuku knew there was an overlook of the city, Katsuki took a sharp turn into the woods.

"When did you find this place?" Izuku asked. He kept his voice soft, not wanting to disturb the atmosphere that settled over them.

"One of those times I was trying to find one of your arms or something," Katsuki replied, surprisingly quiet. "I figured we could use it for another test but the right one never came up. Until now."

Izuku blinked, "We're doing an experiment?" They hadn't discussed anything.

"Sort of."

"Oh that's helpful," Izuku muttered to himself. Katsuk squeezed his hand tighter.

They finally pushed through the underbrush and into a small clearing. Izuku stopped up short at the entrance. Katsuki, for the first time, let go of his hand and walked into the clearing. He stopped and turned to face Izuku. "So? What do you think about it?"

The wild grass in the clearing easily went up to their knees or higher. The long blades were dotted with all sorts of wildflowers. Though Izuku couldn't recognize them all, he could tell there were at least four different species with variants of the species there. There was enough space to let sunlight in through the trees above, but the surrounding woods were so bunched together that it felt entirely enclosed once he was inside.

"It's pretty," Izuku said, "It'd be a shame to get blood all over this."

"Yeah. I figured you'd say that." Katsuki walked to the center and pulled down his pack. "That's why I didn't suggest it. It's better for a different sort of experiment."

"Kacchan," Izuku frowned, "Won't you please tell me what kind you're talking about?"

Katsuki finished pulling out a blanket from his bag and looked up at Izuku. He narrowed his eyes, saying, "How much of a fucking idiot are you? Did you buy what I told you to or not?"

"I got it," Izuku mumbled, "But I don't-" Abruptly, he shut his mouth with a snap. His face flamed so badly that he had to cover his cheeks with his hands. With a hiss, he said, "Kacchan, you want to have _sex?"_

Katsuki finished spreading out the blanket, a small one, in the middle of the clearing. There was about half sun, half shade on the blanket itself, making the bright blue of it stand out even sharper. His cheeks were red as well as he met Izuku's gaze. "Not all the way. I just wanted to try something. What? Don't look at me like that."

Izuku did not believe Katsuki. It showed on his face. And in the way he folded his arms. "You had me buy lube!"

"You can use lube for lots of things." Katsuki retorted. "I've done a lot of reading. Lube is important. A must have for anything more intense than like, fucking kissing or whatever."

"It is _not,"_ Izuku said. "We've done plenty of things without lube."

"Well, I wanted to try something different this time." Katsuki said, "Is that a problem? Do you _not_ want to do this experiment with me?" He gestured around them, "We're alone, Deku. On a _fucking mountain._ No one is going to hear us or see us. And if they did this is a hell of a lot less suspicious than our other experiments."

 _"Fucking_ mountain is right, it seems," Izuku muttered to himself. Katsuki's glare only increased. "Okay. You're right. I do want to. I just- Next time, can you buy the lube?"

"Fine. Now get your ass over here, Deku. Right the fuck now."

Izuku complied, dumping his backpack onto the ground at the edge of the blanket to help hold it down. He met Katsuki on the blanket, kneeling down in front of him. He felt suddenly awkward like he didn't know where to put his hands or that there was a wrong way to start this...whatever it was.

Katsuki rolled his eyes at Izuku and crawled past him. "We're going to need that lube now, idiot," he said as he dug through Izuku's backpack. At the same time as he took out the small bottle, he put Izuku's phone into the bag and then zipped it up to get it out of the way. Sitting back on the blanket, he looked over the bottle and gave a satisfied nod. "Good. You got exactly what I said."

"Kacchan…" Izuku said, getting his attention.

Katsuki turned and looked at him. He sat in mostly sunlight, where the light caught on his hair and his skin. Izuku bit his lip as he reached out to him. Katsuki held still as Izuku touched his cheek, running his fingers over Katsuki's smooth skin and moving back to slip them through his hair.

That was enough to spark Katsuki into action. He shifted so he faced Izuku properly. Even though he held the bottle in one hand, he reached out and grabbed Izuku by the shirt and shoulder and drew him in. The first kisses were eager and quick, heated by the sun and the fire that was kindling in Izuku's gut.

Their kisses quickly evened out as they matched their eagerness with their desire not to bump noses or teeth together. Katsuki pulled back, at one point, gasping for breath, and was the first to pull his shirt off. Izuku followed suit, tossing the shirt away and leaning back. Sure enough, Katsuki bent over him, held up on his knees and an elbow as he kissed Izuku down into the cloth.

His free hand slid down Izuku's chest, igniting tingling nerves that made Izuku's hair stand on end and goosebumps rise on his flesh. He gasped out Katsuki's name when Katsuki's mouth found its way to his throat. He shuddered when Katsuki's fingernails scraped over the skin of his abdomen above his waistband.

"These have to come off," Katsuki murmured, "Okay?" He had a pair of fingers tucked under the waistband and pulled them up. Izuku's hips arched up with the motion, making Katsuki chuckle.

"Okay," Izuku breathed. His hands shook as he reached down and undid the front of his pants. He began to wriggle out of them, but Katsuki grew impatient. Izuku bit his lip as Katsuki stripped him down the rest of the way, pants, shoes and socks all coming off until he was naked on the blanket.

"Kacchan?" Izuku asked, voice trembling slightly.

"Don't worry," Katsuki said, leaning in. He now knelt between Izuku's legs and when he was close enough to kiss, Izuku could feel the cloth of his pants against the inside of his thighs. "I'm here." He ran kisses up Izuku's throat and jaw to his mouth. Each time his mouth touched Izuku's skin, Izuku closed his eyes to focus on the heat of Katsuki's touch. "I'm not going anywhere without you," Katsuki said against his lips. "I'm going to make you feel good, Deku. I promise you."

Izuku blinked blearily up at Katsuki, struggling to keep his eyes open in the warmth of the sunlight and under Katsuki's attention. He reached up, pulling Katsuki in so he could keep kissing. He didn't know why he deserved Katsuki's attention like this today, he hadn't _done_ anything for Katsuki recently. Had he? Why did Katsuki want to make him feel so good?

He lifted his chin as Katsuki shifted back down again. Anticipating Katsuki to tease him with his chest, like he'd done before, Izuku was startled when the next Katsuki's lips skimmed down ribs and abs to go to Izuku's hips.

Izuku got an elbow up under himself when he heard the plastic cap of the bottle pop open. He had Katsuki's name on his tongue when a familiar hand gripped his cock and thoroughly derailed his thoughts. It was a little different than usual, slicker, as Katsuki used some of the lube to ease the friction of his rubbing hand.

When Izuku's arm trembled too badly to hold him up, he fell back onto the blanket with a sharp exhale. He always forgot how good it felt to have Katsuki's hand on him. He knew exactly what it felt like to have a knife sever each of his major arteries and could call up that feeling in an instant, but every touch of Katsuki's hand on his body was like a new memory being carved into his mind for the first time.

"This," Katsuki said, his voice distant to Izuku's ears, "Is what I wanted to try."

There were fingers that slid over Izuku's skin slick with lube and with that same confident pressure that Izuku associated with Katsuki's touches. His breath hitched in his lungs and then again in his throat as Katsuki's fingers found what they were looking for and he slowly began to push one in.

Izuku bit his lip. It felt weird, at first, but as Katsuki kept one hand moving up and down on his cock and didn't stop pushing in with a finger, the feeling in his gut twisted to one of heated desire. Soon, he was biting his lip to keep back the soft gasps and grunts that wanted to escape.

His hips lifted as Katsuki shifted his hands this way and that. Izuku tried, in vain, to keep still, but so long as Katsuki didn't bitch about him squirming he didn't think it was _that_ much of a problem.

Katsuki's fingers squeezed his cock as he slid his hand up slowly. Izuku whimpered as he thrust his hips up, anxious to get more than that. Katsuki had started quickly, why was he slowing down _now?_

"Hey. Look here."

Izuku blinked, looking up. The sky was so incredibly blue above them. Had Katsuki said something to him or was that in his head?

"Deku, idiot, _look at me."_

After a few moments, in which Izuku realized that he was an utter mess and it was Katsuki's fault and Katsuki did not seem to understand how much of a mess he was considering he was making such unfair demands, Izuku pushed himself up onto his elbows. "K-kacchan?"

"I didn't want you to miss this bit," Katsuki said. His cheeks were flushed too, though Izuku wasn't sure why. It wasn't as though he was the one sweating and gasping for breath as-

Katsuki dipped his head down, sliding back on his knees so he could make the angle, and licked up the side of Izuku's cock.

Izuku shuddered, fingers digging into the cloth as he fought his body's instinctive reaction to finish right there. He felt himself tighten around Katsuki's finger and couldn't stop from groaning out Katsuki's name. He didn't know if he wanted to grind his hips down on his finger or thrust up into Katsuki's hand.

The problem was solved for him as Katsuki, with a smug look that Izuku thought was well deserved in this particular instance, began to move his hands again, thrusting with one and stroking with the other. He kept adding teasing kisses and licks with his mouth, and Izuku was sure he would lose his mind.

Every time he closed his eyes, to try and block out some part of it, Katsuki would stop until he looked again. Izuku's mouth tried to say something about how he was so demanding of attention but his tongue didn't work like that anymore. It could only say Katsuki's name. It could only beg for _more, more, more, please, Kacchan! Please!_

Then Katsuki sucked on the head of Izuku's cock and that was it. He came with a choked out shout, body arching and finishing. Katsuki pulled his head back out of the way and moved his hand lazily, milking Izuku's orgasm for all it was worth.

Izuku lay back, panting for breath.

Distantly, he was aware that Katsuki was cleaning up. He felt a cleaning cloth- Katsuki brought them pretty regularly now- across his skin. He shivered at the sudden chill of the damp skin with the mountain air against it. In fact, the sweat on his body was beginning to chill him.

After Katsuki finished cleaning up, he straddled Izuku's hips. He still wore his pants, but he had pulled them open. Izuku rubbed his eyes and then looked up at him. "Kacchan, do you want me to-"

"Shut up and let me enjoy this," Katsuki said, "You only look this fucked up once in a while." He stroked himself with one hand; his eyes were hooded as he stared down at Izuku. "Next time, though, you've gotta do something do for me, okay?"

Izuku nodded. He would have insisted doing something now but it had been a while since he'd felt this wrung out. Instead, he lay there and looked up at Katsuki, knowing that Katsuki wanted him to watch.

He'd seen Katsuki get off by himself a couple of times and though Izuku didn't understand exactly why Katsuki liked it best when he was being watched, Izuku didn't mind to comply. He liked to watch Katsuki. He liked to see the shine of sweat as it beaded up on his skin. He liked the way Katsuki took in shallow breaths until he forced himself to take deeper ones to try and control himself.

He liked the way that Katsuki looked at _him_ as though there wasn't anything else he'd rather be looking at while he masturbated.

And if he liked the way it felt when Katsuki came on him, hot and sticky across his chest, well that worked out for the both of them, didn't it?

Katsuki's expression after is orgasm was smoothed out with bliss. Izuku stared up at him, hungry to see that face, and had recovered enough to reach up and tug him down. Katsuki kissed him lazily, half-assed really, for a few minutes before he pulled away to clean up.

Izuku lay back quietly during that. His mind was always clearest in those few minutes afterward, so long as he hadn't fallen asleep. Katsuki soon joined him on the ground, lying next to him.

Turning to his side, Izuku faced him. Katsuki had his head pillowed on his arm as he looked at Izuku. "What?" He asked abruptly, cutting into the silence around them. "You got a weird look on your face, Deku. Spit it out."

"I have to tell you something," Izuku said, dropping his gaze to Katsuki's throat, to his collarbone.

"...What is it?"

"You know yesterday?" Izuku said, "When I came back from your grenade blast?"

"Yeah. I remember. Took you about five minutes. What? Did something happen? Do you think someone saw?"

Izuku shook his head. If someone had seen they would have said something right away. He was sure of that. People didn't overlook half-mangled bodies. They had learned that one the hard way.

"It's not what someone else saw, it's what I saw." Izuku reached out, nervous, and picked at the thread of the blanket. "I saw it again. The black rabbit."

Katsuki lay in silence so long that Izuku made himself look up to his face to make sure he wasn't asleep. Katsuki was staring up at the sky, his brow furrowed but with only a slight frown. "The same one from last year?"

"Yeah. Ears and claws and everything."

"Did it say anything this time?"

Izuku shook his head.

"Huh." Katsuki sighed.

"But um… It did something."

Katsuki turned his head to look at him. "What did it do?"

"It was looking at something? It would follow me around, right, but whenever we stopped, it would stop too and turn to look in the same direction." Izuku said, "You know how like the second time it looked around like it was keeping watch? Remember?"

"Yeah," Katsuki said, "I remember."

"Right, like that but it looked in only one direction. Every time. It didn't look around at all." Izuku scooted closer, whispering, "What do you think it means?"

After a thoughtful moment, Katsuki said, "It's gotta be part of your quirk somehow."

Izuku nodded. He'd thought the same thing.

"And if it's part of your quirk," Katsuki said, turning to look back at the sky, "Then you should be able to control it. Right? That's the thing about quirks. You should be able to control them. Simple as that. You'll just have to learn how."

"...I'll come up with some new experiments," Izuku said. He lay there, watching for a moment, to see if Katsuki would say anything more. When he didn't, Izuku closed the distance and put his cheek on Katsuki's shoulder. "Should we nap? And then have lunch?"

Katsuki grunted in agreement, eyes closing.

Izuku smiled and did the same. He fell asleep thinking of ways to summon the black rabbit and what to do when he had.

* * *

Secrets were a terrible burden.

Toshinori understood the weight of them better than some. His body suffered under his greatest secret. His mind suffered under all the rest.

As his skeletal, emaciated self, no one looked twice at him. He could sit alone at the bar, sipping his drink and trying to figure out what the hell to do. Even the bartender paid little attention to him, only coming over to check on the level of his drink whenever he pushed it forward.

He was keeping it to a minimum today; nursing his drink for as long as he could. He needed to keep his mind clear. He needed to preserve what little worth his body had left.

Because if he was right in the source of those black particles, he was going to need every ounce of strength and wit to survive.

Toshinori held a lot of secrets close to his scarred and battered chest. The one that he kept closest to his heart, though, was the wish that he was wrong. Wrong about the particles. Wrong about Midoriya. Wrong about the strange black rabbit creature he'd seen staring at him. Wrong about his paranoia. Toshinori wanted to be wrong so badly it ached almost as bad as the bunched skin did on his chest.

He sat, one hand over his eyes, the other holding tightly onto his drink, and hoped for the best, despite what he knew he had seen.

* * *

[Part 4 of 7]


	17. Asphyxiation 5

**note: i'm gonna be doing a couple updates this weekend so make sure you don't accidentally skip a chapter!**

* * *

 **Asphyxiation 5: routine**  
 _routine helps pass the time from day to day_

* * *

Returning to school encouraged Izuku to fall into routine and he was never one to fight that. Now that he and Katsuki had taken the first solid step into their future together, what mattered was staying the course.

There were some things that carried over from their last summer. They continued to monopolize each other's time outside of school.. Where those hours had been filled with training and the typical rowdy behavior of a couple of teenaged boys allowed to run free during the summer, they now refocused on homework and studying, training and practice and, of course, delving into the new aspect of Izuku's first quirk.

In the morning they woke just in time to get breakfast, get ready for school and head out without being late. Katsuki was ready first; Izuku hurried to meet up with him at the corner of the street. They walked to school together, usually in silence, unless Izuku had something exciting he wanted to talk about.

School itself was a set routine that the boys threw themselves into wholeheartedly. Classwork and their battle training got their focused attention, perching Katsuki and Izuku near the top ranking in their class in terms of grades and progress. The greatest variable for school wasn't the activities or their interest in them, but whether or not Katsuki had made lunch. Very quickly they settled into a pattern they'd established in middle school.

They sat near enough to each other in class that they could confer quietly if they had questions. Study sessions or homeroom class was spent completing homework, to make time for other things after school. From time to time, Katsuki made them lunches and they would either enjoy them in the classroom, the cafeteria or outside. When he didn't, they found a table in the cafeteria to eat in.

They were each other's first choice if they had to pair up and quickly found a few other students that both Izuku liked and Katsuki could tolerate for larger groups.

It wasn't long before they figured out that their teachers were purposefully trying to keep them separated by assigning groups or flat out calling them out and telling them to pick someone else.

That, too, was like middle school. They listened to their teachers, but they never stayed apart long. Izuku would meekly obey, giving Katsuki a sidelong glance. Katsuki would obey with a roll of his eyes and a disgusted expression.

("It doesn't matter how much they try to pull us apart," Katsuki whispered. His mouth was at Izuku's throat, at his jaw, his ear, kissing and speaking in a low, heated tone. "The harder they pull, the stronger we bounce back. We're together, Deku. That was the promise. Together. Forever."

"Forever," Izuku repeated. His hands dug into Katsuki's shoulders; his breath faint, his heart pounding. These meetings in bathroom stalls and around the hidden corners of buildings, too, became part of routine. Katsuki had his own list of things to experiment with and Izuku was more than happy to help.)

After school they went to one of their two homes. It changed depending on the day, depending on how they felt, depending on whether or not Katsuki's mother would be home that afternoon. Homework was finished, indoor exercise followed by outdoor exercise and then came, at last, the time to relax and eat.

Those few hours a week where they did nothing but watch terrible TV or sit at the table and eat with Inko were treasured. Not necessarily by the boys themselves, but by Inko, who saw Izuku at his happiest when he and Katsuki were squabbling over which show to watch or were going back and forth in telling her about something they learned in school.

Most nights, this was where it would end and they would go back home, or one would stay the night and they would pass out together, Izuku's cheek smushed against Katsuki's shoulder and Katsuki with both arms around Izuku.

Some nights, this was where it only began.

This was one of those nights.

* * *

Izuku swiped his house key off its hook and tied it around his wrist so he wouldn't lose it. He tucked the piece of metal behind Good Luck, so that it didn't swing and catch on anything. His shoes were already on and his hand on the doorknob when he heard his mother faintly call from farther in the apartment, "Izuku?"

Wincing, he stopped and looked back over his shoulder, "Yes?"

"Are you… You're heading out?" She came walking down the hallway, a slight frown on her face. She checked her watch and the frown deepened. "Honey, it's after ten."

Izuku tugged at the hem of his hoodie. "I know."

"Where are you going? Did you need something from the store again?"

Izuku flushed, shaking his head, "No. I'm not going to the store. I just, um, I couldn't sleep and I was wanting to go see Kacchan?" He realized he was fiddling nervously with his hands and so he shoved them into his pockets. "Is that okay?"

"You'll see him tomorrow at school though, won't you?" Inko said. "And it's a school night… I don't want you running around and getting into trouble."

"I don't do that!" Izuku said indignantly. "I'm just going to go straight over to Kacchan's house, Mom!" He turned away, muttering, "Besides, we never get caught so it's not like we've ever really been in trouble."

He knew his mom hadn't heard him when she sighed and said, "All right. All right. I guess you can go over there. Just be safe on your way over, okay? There's been this weird report on the news about troublemakers vandalizing things out at night and I don't want you to get caught and accused of that."

Izuku held perfectly still for a second and then forced himself to relax. "Mom, vandals won't want anything to do with me or Kacchan. Besides, we'll probably just end up watching a movie in his room. It's fine. I just… couldn't get to sleep."

Inko closed the distance and gave him a quick hug. Izuku hugged back, feeling a bitter taste in the back of his throat for lying to her. He breathed in her scent, comforting himself with the way she smelled and felt in his arms. Inko pet his hair with one hand for a moment before she stepped back. "Be quick and careful, son. I love you."

"Love you," Izuku replied before ducking out.

He worried his lip with his teeth as he headed down the sidewalk. It felt like he was always leaving his worried mother behind. He had thought she was already asleep this night but she'd surprised him with that conversation. Sure, rushing off to school didn't feel like sneaking, but after dinner, even if he was only running to the market, it felt… devious.

He couldn't really shake the feeling until he reached the corner, where Katsuki waited by the light pole, hood up on his own hoodie. Izuku lifted his own up as he approached. "Kacchan?"

Katsuki straightened and scowled. Izuku opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when Katsuki snapped, "My mother got on my case about heading out tonight. She didn't want me to go."

"Mine too," Izuku said. "I had to tell her I was staying the night at your place."

"Great." Katsuki grimaced. "That's what I told mine. Although that seemed to just piss her off more. I swear, she's become such a fucking bitch lately. I wish I knew what crawled up her ass and fucking died there."

"Oh. This is gonna be a weird night," Izuku said. "If your mom thinks you're at my place and mine thinks I'm at yours-"

"We'll just go back to your place," Katsuki said, "Your mom is more lenient than mine anyway. She won't mind."

"But I told her I was going straight to your place. What would we say to her? That your mom kicked me out?" Izuku shook his head, "We're going to be out for at least two hours, Kacchan."

"Then we'll figure it out then. C'mon," Katsuki grabbed Izuku's wrist, "Let's go to the park. There's no point in arguing about this shit. Worst case scenario is we sleep in the park or something."

"That reminds me," Izuku said, following Katsuki, "People have seen some of the leftovers of the last experiment. There was apparently something on the news about a vandal?"

"Yeah, I saw that at dinner," Katsuki said, "Dad was watching it." He cut across the street and lead Izuku through an alley, taking the back way to their destination. Izuku picked up his pace a bit so they could walk side by side.

They spoke quietly with each other so their voices didn't carry very much. They were the only two out in the neighborhood and in dark hoodies with their hoods up, Izuku knew they probably looked pretty suspicious.

"I wish we had a junkyard or something we could practice in," Izuku said. "Like the beach, before it was cleaned up."

"I checked there the other day," Katsuki said, "It's still pretty clear. There's nothing but sand and sea."

"Wouldn't that be a good place to test? We haven't done any water experiments and it'd be good to know if footprints showed up." Izuku said as they came out the other side of the alley.

Katsuki paused and looked at him. "Actually… yeah. That wouldn't be a bad place at all. Let's go to the beach."

Izuku smiled and agreed.

* * *

The steady roll of the waves upon the shore filled the air. The sound of two pairs of feet walking across the sand added a soft schff schff to the night.

The clear beach was a beautiful sight under the light of the full moon. The sand nearly glowed and the ocean was inky black where it didn't reflect the silver of the moonlight.

Katsuki came to a stop first. Izuku carried on a few paces before he turned to face Katsuki.

"Okay. What's our focus tonight?"

"Interactions between Usagi and sea water," Izuku said, lifting up his hand. He ticked off each item on his fingers. "Interactions between Usagi and sand. A second data gather for the test of Kacchan against an invisible enemy. Aaand," he drew out the word as he wracked his brain for the last objective, "Distance data gather three. This is the last one until this weekend, when I want to do an endurance run."

Katsuki grimaced. "We're really doing that second data gather at night?"

"Night or day it doesn't matter, Kacchan. Usagi is still invisible to you and the sunlight won't help." Izuku said as he slid his backpack off his shoulders to dig out his flashlight and his notebook.

"Yeah, yeah," Katsuki grumbled.

"And you have to be practiced at fighting people even when not at your optimum," Izuku continued as he crouched down in the sand. He opened the notebook and laid it across his knees. "You won't run into your only villains in the morning when you're refreshed. Sometimes it'll happen late at night or just after a long day."

"I know." Katsuki snapped. He pulled off his hoodie and tossed it at Izuku. "Fighting in sand is a bitch enough, Deku. I don't need your snide comments to back it up. Now bring up that rabbit bitch already."

Catching Katsuki's hoodie, Izuku tucked it into the bag and then focused his attention on his friend again. "Okay. Usagi-chan, time to come out." He held his breath for a moment as a rush of something filled, overfilled and spilled out of him.

The black creature that sprang forth was as black as the ocean's waves at night. Izuku could see the edge of moonlight on the elongated ears and on the long claws at the end of what passed as paws or hands for Usagi. Izuku held his breath as he saw her feet dig into the sand, leaving clawed toe imprints behind. He inched forward, so as not to disturb them, and sketched the outline in his notebook.

Usagi, he'd discovered quickly in his experiments, could work independently of his conscious attention. She picked up on his desires faster than he was able to really recognize them himself and if he gave her a direct instruction, whether it be out loud or thought in his head, she listened. Now she was doing what he wanted her to: nonlethal attack with Katsuki.

So while he was able to take notes on the imprints of her feet- enough to use to search the internet later to see if they were similar enough to any animal to pass- Usagi fought Katsuki on the beach.

When he'd finished his drawing, Izuku gave his attention back to the fight.

Usagi's moves were slowed. To Izuku, it would have been easy to see them coming and prepare for them. For Katsuki, who had to listen to every shift of sand, every whisper of air, it was just about the right speed for him to locate, translate the sound in his head and react to it.

Izuku watched them both with calculating eyes. He had a rough estimate of how strong Usagi was and a better idea of how sharp her claws and teeth were. Stone, concrete and wood were nothing to her physical weapons. Metal could be scratched deeply or clean through, depending on its own hardness level, and if not scratched it could be crunched up if she could get some muscle put behind her attack.

If she were going flat out against someone like Katsuki, someone who couldn't see her, he didn't doubt that she could take them down.

She was an incredible defense. Izuku knew she would be invaluable to him as a hero. She could carry anyone, cut through anything, was obedient and swift.

The only problem was that she didn't last very long.

Izuku wrote a note to push his endurance with his tests in his notebook before turning his attention to Katsuki instead. This test wasn't just for Usagi, after all.

Katsuki was quiet during his fight. His eyes moved constantly and he never dropped his guard. In the moonlight, his hair was paler than usual. He looked washed out, except for his burning red eyes and the dark smudge of his lips, parted for his panting breath.

Without using his quirk, Katsuki was even more at a disadvantage than normal, but using it would have brought them more trouble than it was worth. Izuku thought it was a shame. He wished he could see the flame bursting in the air. Katsuki never looked quite so alive as he did with both hands smoldering and the flashes of red-orange and gold lighting up his skin.

Of course, Katsuki was fully dressed so it wasn't like Izuku was able to see much of that skin anyway. That, too, was a shame.

Usagi twisted around, ducking under a punch and reaching up with a clawed hand. Izuku expected her to push Katsuki back, to dislodge his footing, as she tended to do, but instead, her wrist twisted and her claws hooked up under the edge of Katsuki's shirt. With a lift of her arm she sliced Katsuki's shirt in half.

"Oi!" Katsuki snapped, "Bitch!"

Izuku blinked, surprised at her actions. He took more notes, edging around to get a better view. Katsuki lunged after Usagi, but she was quicker on her feet. The sand really didn't seem to hamper her at all, just like long grass or gravel or concrete. Izuku watched as she went in again. She avoided another strike, hooked a claw under another strip of shirt and rent the back of Katsuki's shirt in half.

He stood there for a second, indignantly grinding his teeth. Katsuki whipped his head around and glared at izuku. "The fuck is your bitch doing? Deku. Answer me!"

Izuku couldn't. He had lifted his notebook up to half-hide behind it. He stared, unblinking, at Katsuki. He couldn't quite put into words what he was seeing.

Katsuki, in the moonlight, was beautiful.

He wanted to say so, but the word choked him up and sat in his throat like a stone. Izuku saw Usagi dart forward, but, somehow, he could tell she wasn't fighting anymore. Neither was her mood simply playful. She slipped past Katsuki, the tips of her claws skating over his skin and making him whip around to try and hit her. She was _teasing_ Katsuki, Izuku realized belatedly, as she dashed past to do it again, making Katsuki spin around again until his back was to Izuku.

Katsuki stood between Izuku and Usagi, facing the black rabbit. Usagi crouched low, resting a hand in the sand. She cocked her head to the side, and though she had no discernible facial features, Izuku knew she was looking at him. She tilted her head to the other side and shifted in the sand.

"You bitch," Katsuki snarled.

"...Kacchan…" came a whispered voice, distant and eerie and belonging to neither Katsuki or Izuku. "Kacchan is beautiful."

Izuku's heart leaped into his throat, dislodging his words, but that didn't make it any easier to speak. Katsuki lowered his fists for a second, faltering in obvious surprise. He glanced over his shoulder, looking towards Izuku.

That was the moment Usagi lunged. She took off from the sand and cleared the space between where she was standing and where Katsuki had stood without touching down again. She collided into his chest, knocking the breath out of Katsuki and cutting his exclamation off short. Izuku yelped, reaching out, not wanting Katsuki to hit the ground too hard. Katsuki landed with a thump on the soft sand and immediately twisted in an attempt to dislodge Usagi.

"You shitty bitch, get the hell off of me!" Katsuki shouted up at the impassive face.

"Kacchan," Izuku said, walking over. It was useless for him to yell. Usagi wasn't even looking at Katsuki, but was looking up at Izuku, head to the side again. "Kacchan, you're being too loud!"

"I'm being too loud? Your rabbit monster is sitting on me!" Katsuki snapped, moving his head so he could glare at Izuku. "She's fucking won. I fucking get it. Now get off!"

"Usagi-chan," Izuku said to his ghost. He crouched down beside them. "Can you get off of Kacchan now, please?"

For a moment, it looked like she wouldn't listen, but then she pulled back slowly. At the same time, she began to unravel, like a black silk ribbon loosening around a rabbit shaped frame. The black particles that made up her body seeped into the air. Izuku made a soft sound as he reached out to her. Every time she vanished he worried about her, hoping that she'd be okay and she'd come back again.

With Usagi's weight gone, Katsuki sat up, rubbing at his chest. He waited with a glare as Izuku said goodnight to Usagi. Then, when she was gone, he turned, grabbed Izuku by the front of his jacket and rolled him to the ground. Izuku gave a surprised noise and for a moment clutched tighter at his notebook. At the look in Katsuki's eyes, though, he tossed it and the pen aside and reached up.

Katsuki met him for a sharp kiss, one that he spent half the time biting Izuku's lips. Drawing back, between kisses, he said, "Your damn rabbit ripped my shirt up and called me beautiful. What the fuck was that about?"

"She's connected to my subconscious," Izuku mumbled back. "At least, she acts like she is. That's why she acted the way she did the first few times she showed up. I didn't know I could control her at the time, but she did what I needed to do but couldn't do on my own."

Katsuki glared down at him. "So she ripped my shirt off because, what? You wanted to?"

"Uh. Yes?" Izuku blushed. "I mean. I just… In the moonlight you look so… And I might have gotten a little distracted and she just…" His voice faded away as he worried his bottom lip.

Katsuki slid his hand up from Izuku's shirt collar. It curled lightly around his throat, his fingers in position to feel Izuku's pulse race. "You owe me a new shirt," Katsuki said.

"I have spare ones," Izuku said. He always brought spare shirts. He couldn't meet Katsuki's eyes. Or rather, he couldn't look up from Katsuki's mouth.

Katsuki leaned in, "We have other tests to do, don't we?"

"Usagi should rest for a while before she comes out again," Izuku said. "And doesn't this count as an experiment?"

Katsuki's grip tightened slightly. "Is… Is that what you think of this? That it's an experiment for, what, sex data?"

Izuku opened his mouth. Katsuki squeezed harder. "Think before you fucking answer that one, Deku. Think. Really. Fucking. Hard."

He gave a little nod and Katsuki eased up his grip.

"Kacchan," Izuku said, "I don't care what we call this, what we call what we are. Boyfriends or best friends or partners or whatever. It doesn't matter. There isn't anyone else I want to do this with; there never will be. I love you, Kacchan. I don't love anyone else."

There was silence from Katsuki for a minute.

The waves rolled against the shore, a constant _rush-rush_ of water that was as steady as their beating hearts. Katsuki bent down and whispered, "Good answer," before he kissed Izuku again.

Katsuki quickly overwhelmed Izuku's senses. There was no source of heat in all the world except for Katsuki who sat above him, knees against Izuku's sides, hands on Izuku's body, mouth on Izuku's own. Izuku quickly became lost in their shared kisses, in the feeling of Katsuki's rough hands running up the underside of his shirt and hoodie. Izuku arched his back, his heels digging into the sand, as Katsuki dug his teeth into the side of his neck.

"K-Kacchan-" Izuku panted. "W-wait."

Katsuki pulled back. He was breathing heavily as well. His eyes were full of burning desire as Izuku met his gaze. The sight made him shiver. "For what?"

"I don't really want to do this in the sand," Izuku said, "I mean, it's going to get everywhere. It always does."

Katsuki rolled his eyes, "Mood killer."

Izuku flushed, "I didn't mean to-"

Katsuki shut him up with a kiss. "Don't worry about it. We shouldn't get too carried away anyway."

"You say that," Izuku remarked, "But you're not actually getting off of me."

Katsuki sighed. His breath was warm against Izuku's neck. Izuku absently turned his head. He enjoyed the feeling of Katsuki's lips at his pulse. The faint ache of his skin told him he had a couple of hickeys, but they were a problem for Izuku of the future. Izuku of the present had a very different problem. "Kacchan…"

"Are we calling it a night or are we getting back to testing Usagi?" Katsuki pulled up again. His fingers fiddled with the drawstring of Izuku's hood.

"I want to try the distance," Izuku said. "Last time we got to the end of the block before we had to call it off. This time I want to see if we can go farther."

Katsuki nodded. He finally got off of Izuku and began to brush sand off of himself. "Sounds fine. My house is farther from the beach, so we'll head there. We can climb in through the window and if my mom throws a fit, well, just ignore her. What can she fucking do about it anyway?"

"Okay." Izuku helped brush Katsuki off until he was shooed away. Collecting his things, he shook out the sand from his notebook and handed Katsuki back his jacket. Katsuki picked up the scraps of his shirt while Izuku kicked the footprints left behind by Usagi the first time. They were still learning the best way to cover their tracks, but with the sand it certainly made it easier.

Before they left, Izuku turned towards the ocean. He focused for a moment and felt that rush before Usagi appeared in front of him. She almost instantly crouched down, looking up at him and then getting into a comfortable position. Or he assumed it was comfortable for him. She was going to wait as long as she could.

"Goodnight Usagi-chan," Izuku said. "If you get lonely, you can look up there, okay?" He pointed to the moon. "That's where the moon princess you were named for lives. You can talk to her and she'll listen to whatever your problems are, I promise."

Usagi tilted her head to look back at the moon and Izuku smiled.

"Come on, nerd," Katsuki said, taking Izuku's hand. "Fucking Christ, dude, you're such a fucking sap."

"Say goodnight to Usagi-chan, Kacchan," Izuku said as he was tugged away, "Please?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes. Over his shoulder he shouted, "Goodnight Usagi. You keep an eye out for any illegal dumping, okay? We want this beach to stay spotless. Deku worked damn hard on getting it there."

"Kacchan!" Izuku said, "Don't give her conflicting jobs!"

"She can do both," Katsuki said confidently. "Now come on. At this rate we're going to have to be doing these fucking experiments all weekend too. We have to get ready for the fucking field event next week, or did you forget that? We won't be able to waste time dicking around every night."

"I guess I'll rearrange the schedule a little bit," Izuku said, "Since we are losing focus so late at night." He tapped thoughtfully at his chin, letting Katsuki guide him as he chattered through his thoughts.

His voice faded fainter and fainter the farther he got from the shoreline.

* * *

Usagi stayed crouched on the sand, head tilted up to the moon, waiting. After the boys had gone for a full minute, Usagi began to hum a half recalled song from Izuku's childhood.

She remained that way, singing to herself, until her time ran out and she unraveled into black matter.

* * *

[Part 5 of 7]


	18. Asphyxiation 6

**note: i'm gonna be doing a couple updates this weekend so make sure you don't accidentally skip a chapter!  
note 2:** **theres a lot of fighting in this one.** **and some mentions of dismemberment.**

* * *

 **Asphyxiation 6: out of control**

 _the day at USJ does not go according to anyone's plan_

* * *

The morning of the disaster field training event, Katsuki stood with his classmates in the loading zone. They all wore their hero costumes, including Izuku who had just gotten his replacement the day before from the support department. Izuku had his hood and mask pulled down for the trip out to the field just like Katsuki wasn't yet wearing his gloves and grenadiers because of their size.

Iida counted them one by one as they got onto the bus, performing his duty with his usual efficiency. He checked their names off on his list as they walked past. Izuku gave a brief, polite smile to Iida as he passed, more interested in the seating on the bus than the class president. Katsuki followed suit.

Izuku was the one who led them to the back of the bus. Standing in the aisle, he turned to Tokoyami who had found a seat towards the back. "Excuse me, Tokoyami-kun, do you mind if I sit here next to you?"

Tokoyami looked up from the window to stare at Izuku. His red gaze flicked to Katsuki and met his eyes before he answered Izuku with, "There's only one seat. You both can't sit there."

"Well obviously," Izuku said, "That's why I asked if you mind if I sit next to you."

Tokoyami blinked slowly. "...Are you sure you don't want to sit next to each other?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes. Shouldering past Izuku, he dropped into the seat behind the two of them and slouched in the chair, getting comfortable. Izuku laughed as if he suddenly understood what Tokoyami's problem was. "Actually, I have a few questions about your quirk that I kind of wanted to ask if you were okay with that."

"Excuse me?" Tokoyami asked.

"You have a unique quirk with your companion, Tokoyami-kun, and I was hoping to ask you a few things about you and your quirk if I could," Izuku explained. Katsuki watched him silently. He had taken the window seat, leaving the other one open in case Izuku was denied.

"Why? What do you want to know?"

"I have a few questions about visibility and connection and early development," Izuku said. His hands were automatically patting his pockets, seeking his notebook, and fell lamely limp to his sides when he realized that he didn't have one. Katsuki dug a hand into his pocket and held out a small notepad.

"Here. You left this behind. Be fucking grateful I grabbed it for you." Katsuki handed it over. Izuku gave him a beaming smile as he took the paper.

"Why do you have these questions?" Tokoyami asked.

Izuku glanced to Katsuki, who shrugged in reply to his silent question. It was Izuku's quirk that had generated Usagi. He didn't care how much Izuku talked about the rabbit, especially since there was no way to connect her to Izuku's death quirk.

Bending in, Izuku dropped his voice to a whisper, "I think I might have, uh, developed something similar, but it's a new thing and not very well known. I was hoping I could get some first-hand account from you on a shadow body quirk."

"Midoriya-san, you have a body enhancement quirk. That's. All." Tokoyami said, slowly, like Izuku was an idiot. Katsuki kicked his chair. Tokoyami shot him a sharp glare.

"Kacchan, that is not helpful," Izuku said primly. "Tokoyami-kun is right. I do have a body enhancement quirk. But it's, um, a bit unusual. Like with the healing."

"Uh huh. Healing." Tokoyami said. He glanced out of the corner of his eye towards Katsuki again. Izuku's 'healing' sessions had always been done with Katsuki- and it was always obvious when Katsuki was missing. Katsuki didn't like the implication in Tokoyami's gaze. He was itching to kick his seat again.

"Midoriya-kun!" Iida called from the front of the bus, "Please take a seat! We are ready to go!"

"Look," Tokoyami said, "I'm not really comfortable talking about Dark Shadow with… you. Or anyone, really. No offense intended."

"No no, I understand," Izuku said, "That's fine!" he stepped away. "If that does change and you wouldn't mind answering a few questions, will you let me know?"

"...Sure," Tokoyami said, turning away.

Katsuki saw the brief flash of disappointment on Izuku's face. He reached up and grabbed him by the arm, tugging him down into the seat next to his own. "Don't pout," Katsuki muttered into Izuku's ear as he put an arm around his shoulders. "We're in public. You know how I feel about you pouting where other motherfuckers can see you."

Izuku rolled his eyes, but he smiled and that was what Katsuki was going for. "I know, I know. Possessive bastard."

Katsuki pulled Izuku closer to his side. "Hey, I just gotta fucking protect what's mine, you know?"

Izuku laughed, tickled by Katsuki's breath at his lobe. "I know. I know!" He ducked his chin a little, looking down at the notebook in his hand. There was a sticker of a rabbit on the front, as well as a glittering red and gold heart shaped gem. The word Usagi-chan was handwritten across the front. It was disgustingly cute, like most things about Izuku that Katsuki had to deal with.

In an attempt to distract Izuku further, Katsuki bit Izuku's earlobe, tugging on it while his free hand reached for the notebook. "Let's put this away for now, hm?"

"K-Kacchan-" Izuku murmured. His grip relaxed on the notebook and Katsuki put it back in his pocket. Izuku's own uniform had pockets, but since he was much more likely to utterly ruin anything he wore for any length of time, Katsuki's pockets were a much safer location for his notes. "We're sort of technically in class."

"Uh huh," Katsuki said, "We're at the very back of the bus, too. What's your point?" After putting the notepad in his pocket, he had a free hand. That free hand was instantly put to good use, sliding up the inside of Izuku's thigh. Izuku squirmed in his chair, not pulling away but clamping his legs shut in a futile attempt to slow the steady advance of Katsuki's hand.

"Kacchan," Izuku hissed, "Please."

"Please, what?" Katsuki asked, "Use your words, Deku. I can't understand you when you just whimper like that. You could mean anything with a little sound like that." He squeezed a handful of Izuku's thigh and held his own breath at the way Izuku's body tensed and arched slightly under his touch.

"We'll get the uniforms dirty if you go too far," Izuku said. "And I just got mine back from the last time you fucked it up." His breath came in short pants. His voice was strained. Katsuki's hand had stopped short of his groin and kneaded his thighs teasingly.

"So afterward," Katsuki said, "When our uniforms are already fucked up? How about then?"

Biting his bottom lip, Izuku nodded his head enthusiastically.

"I guess I have to be satisfied with that, then," Katsuki grumbled. He pulled his hand away but kept Izuku held close to his side. He heard a relieved sigh from the seat in front of them and kicked the back of Tokoyami's chair again.

"Kacchan!"

"He started it."

"He didn't do anything," Izuku said. He glared at Katsuki. Lowering his voice he added, "And I want to ask him things for Usagi later. So please. Don't."

Katsuki sighed. It was going to be a boring bus ride after all.

At least the disaster field practice promised to be more interesting. Katsuki couldn't wait to see what the teachers had in store for them.

* * *

It happened far too quickly.

One minute they were listening to Number Thirteen explain the arena and what they were going to be doing that day. The next Aizawa was shouting to stay put and stick close to each other because there were _villains_. Izuku blindly reached for Katsuki's hand as the villains declared their intent to kill them, the students, in order to summon All Might.

"Kacchan-" He couldn't tear his gaze away from Aizawa's fight. He so rarely got to see a real fight with a pro hero and he'd never been able to see Aizawa really fight before.

"Everyone hurry!" Iida's voice carried over the crowd, "We are going to evacuate!"

Katsuki tugged on Izuku's hand with enough force to start him stumbling back. A sudden black mist rose around them, surrounding them, filling the air. "Kacchan," Izuku yanked on Katsuki's hand, "Do you see that mist?"

"Yeah," Katsuki said back. "This isn't like your weird black shit. Fuck. What the hell is going on?"

Izuku squeezed his hand for a brief second before he let go and lifted up his hands. "This is going to be a real fight. Kacchan, are you ready?"

As a voice came from the black mist, ever so eloquently asking if they could _extinguish All Might_ , Izuku dashed forwards. There was no reason to listen to the threats of a villain. There was no reason to wait for him to attack them.

Instinctively, Izuku went left to compliment Katsuki going right. They both struck, Izuku channeling his quirk through his arm with enough force to fracture the bone and create a shockwave. He struck a second before Katsuki did so that their attacks didn't cancel each other out.

"Wait, you two!" Called Number Thirteen from behind them. "You need to run!"

"Heroes don't run," Katsuki said with a grin. "Heroes _win_. Right, Deku?"

"Right!"

The mist that they had cleared came back in full force, swirling around them. The voice was amused praising them for their tenacity. Izuku didn't listen. His eyes were searching for the source of all the mist. There had to be a source, the main body. His eyes caught on the glimmering metal in the middle of the mist.

 _There! That has to be it!_ But before he could say a thing, the villain attacked.

"Boys!" Thirteen shouted. "Run!"

"You will be scattered," The mist rose swiftly, sweeping over them, "And tortured." Izuku stepped back and to the side, closer to Katsuki. "And slain."

Suddenly they were not just surrounded but swallowed in the mist. "Kacchan!" Izuku shouted. He heard, the sound growing distant, Katsuki shouting his name back. He reached through the mist towards where he knew Katsuki should have been but his fingers grasped nothing.

Enveloped by darkness, Izuku didn't feel his change in location.

However, when the mist parted and he saw light again, Izuku was instantly aware that he was falling. The dropping sensation was incredibly familiar. His body adjusted as well as it could. He spun around until the dark blue that he saw wasn't sky but water below.

Also below was a ship, listing in the water, a prop from the disaster course. "Shit," he hissed, looking around for Katsuki, for anyone. "Shit!" As far as he could tell, he was the only one falling this far. Without any way to alter his trajectory, Izuku braced himself for impact.

From this height, the surface of the water was just as dangerous as the boat's deck. If he were lucky, he'd hit the boat, giving him ground to work with. If he weren't lucky, he'd hit the water.

Mere feet from his landing, Izuku curled up, ducked his head and folded his arms protectively over the mask attached to his suit.

 _Unlucky,_ was Izuku's last thought as he struck the railing of the boat, bounced off and headed for the water.

He was dead by the time his body struck the waves.

* * *

"Deku?" Katsuki came stumbling out of the mist shouting Izuku's name. "Deku!" He turned, his boot gritting against the concrete floor, searching for Izuku. They'd been pulled into the black mist at the same time from the same place, after all.

However, the second portal that opened up dropped out Kirishima instead. There was a second when he stared, wide-eyed, at Katsuki. The portal closed behind him, leaving the two of them isolated. Katsuki gritted his teeth.

"What is everyone's fucking deal with trying to separate me and Deku? Stupid fuckers," he muttered to himself. Were even _villains_ keeping them apart now? Fuck that. Fuck it _all._

"Uh-"

"Be useful or don't, I don't give a shit," Katsuki said as he stalked forwards. He could hear footsteps approaching. Either they were other students or more villains. He was personally hoping it was the latter. "Either way, stay the fuck outta my way, shitrag."

"We're on the same side, Bakugou." Kirishima said, "I mean, we both want to get back to the others and get out of here, right?"

"That doesn't matter to me," Katsuki said. In the side of the wall that was open in front of them, he saw the top of a head appear. He rolled his shoulders and "I don't give a shit about the rest of you. First I'm going to find and murder that misty asshole and then I'm going to get back to Deku. No handful of villainous mooks is going to stand in my fucking way."

"Bakugou-"

"Oi! Motherfucker!" Katsuki shouted to the villain that came vaulting into the room, weapons at the ready. "You fucked up, asshole! You fucked up real bad!" He grinned, racing forwards, palms crackling with the fire of his quirk, "Time for you to fucking die, fuckwad!"Izuku's heart was in his throat. The creature that held onto Aizawa was inhuman in both strength and appearance.

Beside him, Asui and Mineta were frozen with fear in the water.

His impact with the boat had fixed his fractured arm from attacking the mist villain but his escape from the water had left him down a finger on one side. Not that it mattered. Izuku could hardly feel the pain these days. A broken finger, a stubbed toe, a fractured rib- it was all temporary pain for him.

The blood and injuries that Aizawa carried now couldn't be healed in the blink of an eye.

Izuku ground his teeth. As the villain with many hands lunged towards them, aiming for Asui, he pushed off the ground with more force than necessary, cracking the stone and throwing himself at the man. "Fuck off and die!" Izuku shouted as he bore him to the ground. He felt a hand curl around his upper arm as the man shouted in aggravation. The feeling of his skin curling back, his flesh being exposed was raw and new for a second but Izuku simply refused to focus on it.

Instead, he drew back his other arm and swung it in, aiming for the man's ribs. His strike hit true, knocking the hand villain away from himself with enough force that he skidded across the ground. Izuku rolled up to his feet, hands up. He glanced at his injured arm and saw blood running down from the open wound. He flexed his hand. He rolled his shoulder. "Still works," he muttered, "Good enough."

"You little brat," the man with hands coughed. Between the fingers, his eyes were wide and wild. "I'm going to _kill you first."_

"If that's supposed to scare me," Izuku retorted, sliding one foot back and keeping a protective stance in front of Asui and Mineta. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the big Noumu beast leaning forward, clearly losing interest in Aizawa. "Then you really should up your game. Death means nothing to me."

"Oh is that so?" Hands said with a little laugh, "What do you even know about death, kid?"

Izuku made his eye roll incredibly apparent. He desperately wished Katsuki was there, just so he could share this moment. "More than you ever will. Obviously."

"Midoriya!" Mineta shouted from the water, "Why are you taunting him!? He's going to kill you!"

Izuku snorted. "He doesn't have the guts."

Hands gave an outraged shout, but it was the beast that attacked Izuku. He came in from the side, hands reaching for Izuku, and crazed eyes focused on him. Izuku braced himself for impact, for the second time that day, but this time, he wasn't prepared for what hit him. The Noumu thing slammed a fist through the arm he had up in defense, snapping the bone and continuing right through to Izuku's jaw. He felt rather than heard the snap of bone as he went flying back.

Someone shouted something and Izuku felt something tug around his stomach, yanking him back, but he ignored all of that. He focused his fast fading thoughts on one thing.

 _Usagi. Protect my classmates!_

* * *

Izuku came back with a flutter of eyelashes and a grunt. His cheek was resting against a shoulder, and for a second he was perfectly relaxed, thinking that it was Katsuki that held onto him. Then the person took a breath and he realized that someone else held him. Izuku opened his eyes and looked up to see Asui, eyes wide, staring at him. "M-Midoriya? How are you- What happened?"

"No time to explain," Izuku said. He sat up, pulling out of her surprise-weakened grasp. "What happened while I was out?" He turned towards the fighting. He probably hadn't been out for more than a few seconds, by the look of it.

For one thing, Hands was shouting "What the hell is going on!?" For another, even the Nnoumu seemed confused.

Usagi stood crouched between Izuku and the Noumu. Her back was to him, ears up, and there was red on her claws. The Noumu had several long scratches along its arms and side that were healing through what looked like accelerated regeneration. It panted with its mouth wide open and eyes wide, searching wildly from side to side.

"Something attacked the monster," Asui said. Izuku appreciated that she had such a calm head when she evenly explained, "There, do you see? There's something there with blood on it. You can just barely see it."

Izuku nodded. Then he was right with his hypothesis. Only he could see Usagi. He got to his feet, dripping water, as he walked up. Hands' attention riveted to Izuku in a second, "You!" he shouted, "How are you still walking? What did you do?"

Izuku smirked at him. He thought Katsuki would be proud of that expression, from the lift of his chin to the tilt of his brow. "I knew you didn't have the guts to kill me. You sent him to do it. Well, two can play that game."

Lifting his hand, Izuku pointed to the Noumu. The thing focused on him as well. There was something exhilarating about the way Izuku had their attention, had control of the situation. He knew things they didn't. He could see things they couldn't. He could save Aizawa and protect his classmates. He could do _anything_. "Usagi-chan, please help me rescue Aizawa-sensei. Be careful. He's injured."

 _"Aizawa-sensei is hurt. Be careful."_ Usagi whispered back in confirmation. The Nnoumu heard her and seemed to finally see the red on her claws but it was too late. Quick as her namesake, Usagi leaped forward, claws outstretched to take down the Noumu.

"What the fuck-" Hands began. "What kind of cheat is this?"

Izuku lost the rest of his words as he ran forward under Usagi's attack. She landed square on the Noumu's chest, her toes splayed out on his chest as her claws dug into the creature's shoulders. Usagi tore the muscle and tendons, completely fixated on disarming the creature permanently. The Noumu staggered back, screeching up at her, reaching out blindly as blood sprayed from the injury. Izuku skidded to a stop at Aizawa's side.

"C'mon sensei, we gotta get you out of here." He slung one of Aizawa's arms around his shoulders and hefted the man up in his arms. Aizawa was lighter than he expected so Izuku had to shift his footing quickly.

"Midoriya," Aizawa coughed. He looked awful, covered in grime and blood. Izuku grits his teeth and shook his head, cutting Aizawa off.

"Don't waste your strength, Sensei. It's okay. Let Usagi and I take care of these guys." He turned to run out of the fight. However, the man with the hands came after him, visibly furious.

"You!" He reached out with both hands, not aiming for an arm this time, but something more vital. "I won't let you heal another time. I'll make sure you die once and for all for what you did!"

Izuku bunched his quirk in his legs and sprang up into the air, mimicking Usagi's movement in an attempt to escape the man with the hands.

As he leaped up, he passed something- or someone- coming crashing to the ground. Izuku saw a flash of red, blue and gold and his heart began to beat hard in his chest. "All Might!"

A cloud of dust rose from the ground where All Might came crashing down. Izuku was grinning when he landed again, stumbling forward as his legs absorbed the shock badly. He came to a limping stop, grimacing as his joints screamed in agony. Yet, he had reached safety and was able to put down Aizawa. "Here, sensei. You'll be safe here."

"Midoriya," Aizawa grabbed the front of his uniform and tugged him down before Izuku could get away.

"Sensei?"

Aizawa opened his mouth and then shut it again, pressing his lips together in a thin line. Shaking his head he muttered, "You're right. There's no time for this right now, but after this, we are going to have a conversation. A long one."

Izuku gave a weak laugh, nervous under Aizawa's intense gaze. "...I have a feeling there is going to be a queue, sir. But okay. Afterwards. I need to go help All Might now."

He let go of Aizawa and trotted back into the fray.

* * *

Izuku held a lot of expectations for what he would walk back in on. All Might and Noumu fighting. All Might and Hands fighting. _Someone_ fighting at least.

What he found confounded him.

All Might stood, staring and silent, with one fist upraised. His expression was frozen. He wasn't turned towards Hands, though, but towards the Noumu.

Or what was left of the Noumu.

Blood spread across the ground in a slow, steady progression like the unstoppable flow of an erupted volcano. Izuku had seen this before, in those few moments when he didn't die on impact and slowly bled out. It was different, seeing it from the outside, but it didn't bother him too much. Izuku was quite used to blood.

The Noumu was a headless, armless lump on the ground in the epicenter of the blood puddle. Izuku saw not just one pair, but several pairs of half regenerated arms cast off to either side. The removal of the head must have stopped his regeneration, though, because there was only one of those and it lay on the ground nearly twenty feet away. Usagi crouched on the Noumu's chest, shoulders tucked in, making her body look small and compact, with her face turned towards All Might.

She twitched an ear as Izuku approached, looking at him for a second before turning her attention back to All Might. A little worried, Izuku stepped up, hand upraised, "Usagi-chan, stand down. All Might isn't an enemy."

All Might jerked abruptly, turning to look at Izuku. "That- You-" He was pale. His hand shaking as he lifted it up to rub across his mouth.

"What a vicious little hero you're teaching, All Might," Hands said, his voice low and filled with venom. All Might turned slowly, as though he were mired in molasses. "Look at what you've taught him to do," he gestured towards the Noumu.

"All Might didn't teach me that," Izuku said sharply. Usagi lifted her head, her attention turning towards Hands just as Izuku's did. He stepped forward, concerned that All Might was so frozen in place. "Usagi-chan just gets a little overzealous when I tell her to do something."

A distant fiery explosion lit up the sky. Izuku turned, wide-eyed, "Where was that from?" He recognized the size and color of it, though. There was no way he couldn't, when only a week or two ago that same fireball had consumed him. "Kacchan?"

 _"Kacchan?"_ Usagi echoed.

Izuku spun to look at her. "Usagi-chan, go to Kacchan. Check on him. Protect him."

 _"Protect Kacchan."_ Usagi agreed. She bobbed her head and then leaped up into the air. Izuku turned from her. With the Noumu down the danger was-

Black mist swirled into existence around Hands. When he spoke, he coughed, although his mouth was no more visible than before, "We must depart. This is, as you put it before, a game over. There is no possible victory here."

"This isn't over, All Might," Hands declared as he was absorbed into the blackness. "I won't be satisfied until you and everything you stand for is torn down and destroyed!"

"Eh!? He's escaping!" Izuku took a step forward, but All Might grabbed his arm and held him back.

In a matter of seconds, the mist swirled away, vanishing both the man with his hands and the mist itself. Izuku blinked and looked up at All Might, surprised. "All Might-"

All Might crouched down until he was eye level with Izuku. He turned Izuku around, hands resting on his shoulders. "Midoriya, my boy," His expression was serious, lacking in his usual smile, and was still pale from before, "You must explain that black ghost creature to me. Are you the source of it? Did you find it somewhere?"

"You mean Usagi?" Izuku blinked, "You saw her? But no one can see her except for me." He wished, suddenly, he hadn't sent her away. She had been splattered with blood, so maybe All Might had just seen that, but he had called her a _black ghost._ Izuku couldn't properly test his theory with Usagi so far away. "All Might, how did you see her?"

"She was- She was perfectly visible." All Might said, "What do you mean others cannot see her?"

"No one can see her." Izuku reiterated, "Except for me. And you." His eyes widened and he leaned in, whispering, "All Might, is she from _that quirk?_ That would explain why you could see her too."

"...You know what-" All Might began but he was cut off by a shouting voice getting louder.

"OI! DEKU! You little shit!"

Izuku whipped around, smiling already. Usagi was returning as quick as she could run, her arms working as forelegs to carry her swiftly across the ground. Katsuki was on her back, holding onto her shoulders. As she came to a skidding stop, he hopped down and came up to Izuku.

All Might let go of Izuku just in time for Katsuki to grab Izuku and whip him around. Izuku didn't mind in the least. Katsuki was always a bit grabby when he was worried. "Kacchan, you're safe!"

"Yeah you dumb shit. Of fucking course I am! What about you? What the fuck happened to you? Look at your fucking uniform! And why the hell are you soaking wet!?"

Izuku looked down at himself for the first time since the chaos had started. His left sleeve drooped down, a gaping hole in the cloth from where Hands had begun to disintegrate his arm. His right sleeve was ruined from the wrist to elbow, where the Noumu's fist had gone through his arm on its way to his face. His gloves were bloody, gritty and the seams popped from when he'd broken his fingers to escape with Asui and Mineta. There were more popped seams and the zipper was broken on his chest from his collision with the railing on the boat.

Sheepishly, Izuku shrugged, "I fell next to a boat in the flood zone. Asui, Mineta and I had to swim back. But I'm okay! Nothing is broken anymore. Since you weren't here I had Usagi help me rescue Aizawa-sensei from that." He pointed to the mound that had been the Noumu. The blood had stopped spreading a while ago.

"You have to be more careful, you little shit. People can't see her! Remember that? I nearly blew her the fuck up when she showed up. I only didn't because she sounded like you, calling me Kacchan and whatever." Katsuki shook Izuku back and forth. "What part of fucking invisible do you not understand? She was bloody and scared the shit out of that hairbrained asshole."

"All Might can see her," Izuku said immediately.

"What," Katsuki said.

"Midoriya, if you wouldn't-" All Might said.

"It's okay, All Might," Izuku said, looking up at All Might, "I trust Kacchan. I tell him everything."

"I- _Everything?"_

Katsuki shook Izuku again, "Deku. _Focus_. Answer my question."

Obediently, Izuku focused on Katsuki. All Might was immediately put to the back of his mind as he took in Katsuki's appearance and expression. Katsuki didn't look worse for wear, though maybe a little sweaty. He must have been running around a lot, which Izuku thought was a fair statement.

"Where did that Black Mist asshole go? Did you see him? He fucking thought he could get away with the shit he tried to pull? Hell no. I'm going to find his body and blow it to smithereens." Katsuki's grip tightened and he shook Izuku when he said _smithereens_.

"He escaped. The guy with hands all over his face went with him. They left after Usagi killed the Noumu thing." Izuku pointed to the Noumu again.

"Protect classmates," Usagi said, slinking over from her spot alone to crouch beside them. _"Aizawa-sensei hurt. Gentle. Find Kacchan. Pretty Kacchan."_

"And you!" Katsuki snapped to Usagi, "Don't call me pretty!"

Usagi tilted her head to the side. _"Beautiful Kacchan."_

"Ugh. Deku! Stop her." Katsuki kicked him in the shin.

Izuku winced. "Usagi-chan, thank you for your help today. We'll play again soon, okay? Goodnight."

 _"Goodnight."_ She tilted her head back, looking up at the sky and said, _"Goodnight Moon."_ Her body unraveled into the black particles, seeping back into Izuku. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in during the moment where Usagi reconnected to his body.

"You got her all weird about the moon," Katsuki muttered.

"I think it's good for her," Izuku retorted. "She needs a friend that can see her too."

All Might cleared his throat.

"Boys. I believe a conversation between the three of us is long overdue. However, we must wait until this situation is fully contained. Please return to the front of the park with the other students." He looked somberly at them both. His arms were folded over his chest. Izuku couldn't quite shake the feeling that All Might was incredibly disturbed. He didn't have that fond, warm, proud look in his eyes when he looked down at Izuku.

All Might looked at him as though Izuku could be a hidden danger and that hurt worse than the punch to the jaw had.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll talk later." Katsuk grabbed Izuku by one arm and began to drag him off. "Come on, Deku. We're done here." Izuku nodded, ducking his head so he didn't keep looking up at All Might. Katsuki walked them around the blood pool, silent and grim as he dragged Izuku off.

* * *

When they were safely out of earshot and well on their way to the front area, Katsuki hissed, "How many times, Deku?"

"Twice," he said quietly back. "Sorry."

Katsuki shook his head. He tightened his grip on Izuku's arm, holding him closer. "...It's like the world is out to fucking separate us. First our teachers. Now these fucking villains. Fuck. Don't they understand we're a fucking pair? You can't have one of us without the other."

"Kacchan," Izuku dragged his feet. He slowed to a stop, making Katsuki have to stop too. "Um..."

Katsuki turned to face him. "Yeah? Um what?"

"Maybe we're not… Maybe we're not close enough." Izuku whispered, "If the universe is out to separate us, maybe it doesn't realize how close we really are."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? How can we get any closer than we are? It's not like we can fucking move in with each other, Deku. Get your brain back from the boat, you fucking left it behind, idiot." Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"First of all, I crushed my torso on the railing, my skull remained mostly intact all day depending on whether or not you count my jaw as part of my skull," Izuku said, "And secondly, we _can_ get closer. We just. Haven't. Yet." He stepped closer, putting his hand over Katsuki's on his own arm. "We've done lots of other stuff to be together, though."

"What do you-" Katsuki bit his tongue, silencing himself. His cheeks reddened with a sudden blush, "You're talking about fucking. Like _actual_ fucking. Right _now_? After this? You're talking about literally fucking each other after we just got attacked by villains?"

"I. Um. Er." Izuku looked down, mumbling, "I just. We don't have to do it right now, obviously. I was just thinking… It's the one thing we haven't really done yet and you're right. Everything keeps trying to pull us apart." He felt his own face heating up and new that he was probably blushing far worse than Katsuki was at this point. "And you know how it is after I come back a couple of times. I just want to feel things, to feel alive again. You understand, right?"

Katsuki lifted his face with his hand under Izuku's chin. "If you still want to, later, let's do it." He gave a smirk and looked Izuku over pointedly, "I mean, you fucking ruined your costume, _again_. A little more fucking around wouldn't hurt."

Izuku grinned and leaned in, closing the distance for a kiss. Katsuki met him eagerly for the kiss. Izuku had to be the one to pull back, reluctantly, and tug Katsuki along again.

There would be plenty of time for that later.

After all, they had a long bus ride back to the school ahead of them.

* * *

[Part 6 of 7]


	19. Asphyxiation 7

**note: i'm gonna be doing a couple updates this weekend so make sure you don't accidentally skip a chapter!  
note 2:** **we'll have a brief intermission after this (much like the two previously) and then the next section will be the Sport Festival. I'm anticipating that one to be a bit longer.**

* * *

 **Asphyxiation 6: unforseen consequences**

 _the messy, messy aftermath._

 _two leave it closer than before._

 _one leaves tormented inside,_

 _one leaves determined,_

 _and one gets delightful news._

* * *

"Figures," Katsuki muttered under his breath. He had his arm over Izuku's shoulder and the two of them stood near the back of the group of students, "There was no damn way we were just going to get the hell out of here, was there?"

At the front of the group, there were a dozen Pro Heroes and half as many police officers counting and speaking to the students. The moment Katsuki had seen the adults, he'd tugged Izuku to the away from the center of attention. Avoiding the police had been how they'd survived together for the last three years and he had no intention of letting anyone take Izuku from him _now_.

Izuku leaned against his side, his hand up so he could hold onto Katsuki's and his head resting against Katsuki's upper arm. He gave a little sigh and closed his eyes, "The police are just doing their job, Kacchan. When we're heroes, we're going to have to deal with them too. We should try to stay on their good side."

Katsuki tightened his grip. Izuku shifted his head, adjusting one arm to loop behind Katsuki to make up for the fact that he was now pressed even closer than before. He dropped his voice down, not wanting to bicker about the police when there was something more important to discuss. "You still serious about… you know?"

His heart jumped a little when he felt Izuku's fingers tighten in his side. Izuku opened one eye and looked up at Katsuki, "... Are you nervous? Do you not want to?"

"Fuck yeah, I do!" Katsuki said quickly, "I want to. I totally do. I'm not fucking nervous. That's your job."

Izuku opened the other eye and stared up at Katsuki. He was so close that Katsuki could make out the shades of green in his irises. He dug his fingers into Izuku's hand, squeezing tight. Looks like this made up for all the times he saw the life fade out of Izuku's eyes. Looks like this made Katsuki's guts twist up inside, made him want to hide Izuku away.

Katsuki wanted to escape away from here, to curl up in the back of the bus with Izuku half in his lap and nothing to do but make him giggle and squirm the whole way home.

Instead, he was faced with this- Izuku with his clear, steady gaze, looking up at him as he said, "I'm not nervous. I know you'll take care of me, Kacchan. You always do."

It was too much. Katsuki leaned in and pressed a sharp kiss to Izuku's lips. Izuku immediately responded, turning into the kiss. Katsuki put his other arm around Izuku's waist, fingers splayed so he could feel the movement of muscle beneath his palm. Izuku claimed to have fully recovered from both of his resets that day but still Katsuki worried.

He had taken Izuku for granted once in his life and had nearly lost him because of that. There was no damn way that Katsuki was ever going to do that again.

Someone rudely cleared their throat nearby, interrupting Katsuki and Izuku with a strained, "Excuse me, boys, if you could stop so I could speak to you?"

Katsuki opened an eye to see who was bothering them. He knew all of their classmates knew better than to, and indeed he saw movement out of the corner of his eye as one of them covered their face with a hand and sighed. That wasn't what made him stop, though, it was the fact that he recognized the man who interjected.

And he wasn't one of their teachers.

Katsuki pulled back, feeling ice thicken the blood in his veins. He bit back his first response, _"What the fuck are you doing here?"_ and went with the more obvious choice of, "What the fuck do you want?"

He didn't let go of Izuku, couldn't. This was the same detective that had come sniffing around their middle school when they were twelve; Detective Tsukauchi. Izuku didn't make any complaint at being wrapped up in Katsuki's arms still, he just leaned against him, watching quietly.

"It was reported that one of you two took serious injuries and needed to be taken to the infirmary," Tsukauchi said, "I'm on my way there and wanted to escort him there." He gave a pleasant little smile, but it just made Katsuki sick to his stomach.

"I'm fine, Detective," Izuku chirped up with one of his polite smiles. Katsuki felt his friend's fingers tighten and dig into his side. He said nothing. He just endured the pain. "I don't have any injuries. And besides, I won't leave Kacchan behind."

Tsukauchi lowered his voice, leaning in to speak quietly to them, "I'm sure you're aware that there are some questions that need to be answered."

"Nothing Deku did is illegal, unless we all did something illegal," Katuski said, resisting the urge to turn Izuku away from the man's direct gaze. "He acted in self-defense against the villains just like the rest of us."

"I understand that," Tsukauchi nodded, "And he is not in trouble. There are just some questions about the use of his quirk during the attack. In fact, these concerns are primarily held by your teachers-"

"Then why the fuck are you bothering with the questions?" Katsuki demanded, "Have them ask, or are they fucking incompetent?"

"Kacchan," Izuku whispered, "Don't talk that way about our teachers. You know that some of them got injured… They're lucky All Might could get them to medical treatment as fast as he did."

Tsukauchi blinked and straightened up slightly. "Ah," he said, dropping his fist lightly into his palm, "I was right. We _have_ met before. I had thought you two looked familiar."

Katsuki's white-knuckled grip on Izuku's hand was matched by Izuku's clamping fingers on his side. "Yeah? So what?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just glad to see you two come so far. You were very adamant about becoming heroes before. It is good to see that you have progressed well on your path." He smiled at them like he was genuinely pleased. Katsuki automatically sneered at him in response. He didn't care what Izuku said about being on the good side of the police. There were other cities that they could work in if it became too much of a problem.

What mattered more was staying together through school so that when those future years came, they could do whatever they needed to live together.

"Thank you," Izuku said, though even Katsuki was aware the silence had dragged on too far. "We worked hard."

"I need to go check on those in the infirmary," Tsukauchi said. "I'm sure we will speak together again, but I suppose I will leave those other questions to your teachers. Excuse me." He ducked away with a little wave goodbye.

When he'd gone, Izuku leaned into Katsuki, lifting his head to whisper to him. His breath was hot on Katsuki's skin and they were so close that he was sure he could feel Izuku's heart thumping like a rabbit's in his chest. "Kacchan- he-"

Katsuki bit his lip to shut him up. "Don't worry about it," he muttered against Izuku's lips. It was a futile command, though, Izuku was a worrier. "Try to relax, okay? Everything will be fine as long as we're together."

"Um," another voice interrupted, "Before you two go off again, can I ask you something, Midoriya?"

Izuku gave an honest smile to the girl that approached them. Katsuki tried to relax, but he was too on edge from the detective. "Asu- I mean, Tsuyu," Izuku said to her, "What is it?"

She pointed to her own neck and asked, "Is your neck okay? It was twisted pretty badly. I wasn't sure that you would… Well, I wasn't sure how strong your healing was. I've never seen it before. None of us have." She gestured a little to the other students around. They jerked back, some of them surprised to have been included in her statement.

"Yeah!" The grape idiot piped up, pointing with one hand at Izuku, "And what the hell did you send to that monster thing? Why was it invisible? Where did it come from?"

"Kacchan," Izuku whispered, "Should I… Should I show them?"

Katsuki vigorously ignored the way his heart caught in his throat. He scoffed instead, "Show them what? She's fucking invisible. They should just be glad that you had her defend them."

"Are we talking about the rabbit girl?" Kirishima said, walking over. "I sort of saw her. I mean, she was invisible but uh, covered in blood so… I could see her a little bit." He scratched a cheek and ducked his gaze when Katsuki shot a glare at him. "Is there no way to make her visible, Midoriya?"

"I haven't found one, yet," Izuku said, "Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out all the things she can and can't do. You see," He came to a muffled stop as Katsuki put his hand over his mouth to shut him up.

"Deku shut the fuck up. And the rest of you, stop fucking pestering him. It's been a long ass day and I'm sick and fucking tired of all of this bullshit." Izuku reached up to tug at his hand and so Katsuki tightened his grip until he knew it hurt Izuku. "You need to shut up." Katsuki said threateningly, "Do you fucking understand? Stop. Fucking. Talking."

"If you're trying for not suspicious," Added another girl, the one that Katsuki had seen trying to be Izuku's friend ever since they were teamed up, "You should know you're really, really failing at it." She had her hands on her hips and a frown on her lips. "We all know by now that Izuku has some weird development to his quirk. I think we'd be more comfortable knowing that he has some decent control over it."

Izuku thumped his fist lightly on Katsuki's chest. It felt like a secondary echo to his heartbeat. Katsuki ignored him. "Deku can control her just fine. He just likes to be thorough."

"You know, he probably likes to breathe, too," Round face said, "You're aware you're suffocating him, aren't you?"

Katsuki froze. He turned his head, looking to see that his hand had covered Izuku's mouth and nose. Izuku looked sheepishly up at him and shrugged. "Dammit," Katsuki muttered, moving his hand away.

"Sorry Kacchan," Izuku said quietly.

"Oh don't apologize to him!" Round face said taking a step forward, "We talked about this, Izuku. You can't be a- a- doormat to Bakugou! He's going to really hurt you one of these days and he won't even notice!"

"I'm not a doormat-" Izuku began.

She cut him off with an angry gesture, "Yeah _right_. He pulls you around everywhere. He makes you kiss him. He drags you into his lap. I can't believe I'm saying it but even his making you lunches is controlling! He monitors what you say and who you talk to and what you eat! What you two are doing isn't healthy and I'm not the only one who thinks that!" She turned to her immediate left, where the frog girl stood. "Right?"

"Midoriya was extremely concerned with returning to Bakugou during our time together in the flood zone," Asui said, "It seemed to be his focus, in fact, until we came across Aizawa-sensei in peril."

"Who the fuck cares what any of you think," Katsuki shouted. "You don't know anything about us. You don't have any fucking clue what you're talking about. I'm not making Deku do anything against his fucking will. He wants to be at my side and I made a place for him there. If you try to take him away from me I'll-"

"You'll what? Threaten to kill us?" Uraraka shouted back at him. "Is that how you got Izuku to stay at your side? Did you threaten to kill him if he ever left you? Is that what you based your fucked up relationship on? Death threats and bullying?"

Katsuki's brain stopped like it hit a brick wall. Her fundamental misunderstanding of their relationship was so grossly apparent that he just. Couldn't. Wrap his head around it.

Izuku ducked his head. His dark hair brushed against Katsuki's jaw, sending electric charges down his skin. He looked down to Izuku and saw him trying to hide a smile and stifle his giggles. Katsuki felt his anger seep away at that expression. He reflected Izuku's smile, gently running his fingers through those messy curls. Izuku's hair was still damp from the water and so there were little flyaway pieces that were drying and curling before the rest of his hair. He looked incredibly cute, giggling behind a hand and trying to stop.

He threw a smug look at Uraraka, who looked baffled at Izuku's reaction. She slowly lowered her arms, deflating under Izuku's giggling. "...What is it?" She asked, "What did I say?"

"Sorry, I'm sorry," Izuku said, though it hardly sounded sincere with his giggles in between his words. "It's just that Kacchan is right. You don't understand. Kacchan and I didn't become friends because he threatened me. I asked him to be my friend and he said yes." Katsuki felt a touch of a hand on his cheek and turned away from Uraraka to look down at Izuku.

The light in Izuku's eyes made Katsuki's breath catch. His green eyes were so bright; his face so lit up it was as if Izuku held the sun under his skin. There was a pink flush to his cheeks and his lips were still reddened from Katsuki's kissing earlier. Izuku ran gentle fingertips down the side of Katsuki's jaw and whispered, "Kacchan promised to be with me forever. He wouldn't do anything to threaten that and he would stop anyone who would."

"Deku," Katsuki said breathlessly. He couldn't possibly put into words the swelling of emotion that rose up from his gut and filled his chest, his mouth, and throat. So he did the next best thing and kissed Izuku. The hair on the back of his neck was on end, as he was fully aware that they were being watched by most of the class at this point. It didn't matter. None of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was the warmth of Izuku's body against his own, the roughness of Izuku's callouses on his skin, and the way Izuku opened his mouth to Katsuki's eager, almost desperate kissing.

When they finally pulled apart, Uraraka and her friend had gone off and Present Mic was there to herd the kids back onto the bus and to the school.

Izuku and Katsuki sat in the back row of the bus.

No one sat adjacent or in front of them.

* * *

In a private room near the infirmary, where loved ones often went to wait, Naomasa found Toshinori. Even emaciated as he was, Naomasa had never seen Toshinori look quite this exhausted or disturbed. Toshinori sat with his face in his hands, not even looking up when Naomasa took a seat beside him.

"I tried to speak with the two you mentioned," He started, pulling out a notepad from his inside coat pocket. "They were obstinate at best, threatening at worst. Honestly, not much has changed since the last time I saw them except for the fact that they were clinging to each other like monkeys."

That got Toshinori's attention. He jerked his head up, blinking, "You've met them before? Both of them? I wasn't aware they had any juvenile issues."

"They don't, as far as I know anyway," Naomasa shook his head. "I met them during an investigation at their middle school a few years ago. Do you remember all those random blood splatters that were found over about, say, four or six months? I was working on that case for a year."

"I remember the pictures on your wall," Toshinori admitted. "You took a year to close it?"

Again, Naomasa shook his head. "I never did. The marks stopped and we never were able to connect that to anything or anyone." He scratched the back of his head and sighed, "The first place where that blood showed up was at that middle school. There was a theory that it was related to someone's quirk and perhaps one of the students had been testing something out but… nothing was ever confirmed one way or the other."

Toshinori closed his eyes. He rubbed his hand over his face. He seemed to curl in on himself, fingers pressed over his mouth. Naomasa didn't worry until he saw the slight tremor in Toshinori's hand as he reached out. Without looking up, Toshinori put his hand on Naomasa's wrist.

"What I'm about to tell you… There are only a very few people who know. Even fewer than those who know about my quirk, Naomasa." Despite his frail looking body, Toshinori's grip was strong. Naomasa held his tongue, knowing that he had to let his friend talk at his own pace.

"There is a man who can come back from any death," Toshinori said, "He was once here, in this town, many years ago. At first my mentor, Nana, she attempted to arrest him, but he would escape easily. Then she began to use more violent force. He seemed to… I don't understand it, but he seemed to delight in this. The more violent she became in putting him down, the harder he pushed back.

"Then, during one fight, she actually killed him." Toshinori paused, drawing in a shaky breath. He let it out slowly. "She killed him and it hurt her to do so. But it didn't matter. Not her pain. Not his death. He came back. He came back and said that now they could _really_ get to business."

Toshinori let go of Naomasa's arm in order to rub his hands together. His bony fingers moved nervously over each other, "She must have killed him more than a dozen times. It didn't seem to matter. He would only leave when he was bored and would come back to press her again. He harried her, haunted her, this man who could come back from death. And nothing I could do could help. I was still getting used to the power of One for All.

"She grew weaker as I grew stronger. I think the man sensed that she was weakening. Ultimately he…"

Naomasa waited for several long minutes in silence before he dared prompt Toshinori. "Ultimately he what?"

"All for One was attacking at the same time," Toshinori whispered, his eyes looking off to the side, seeing something beyond the room they were in. "She couldn't carry the burden of both fights. The man who could not die ultimately killed her. All for One vanished, possibly furious that she'd been taken away before he could do it himself. I don't know. The man who could not die left too. He said that I was nowhere near my mentor's level. He grew bored and he… left."

Toshinori let out a sigh so deep that Naomasa's lungs ached in sympathy. "He killed her and then was too bored to bother sticking around."

Naomasa considered this in silence. He hadn't looked at the case notes for the blood in months so he wasn't fresh with them, but considering that Toshinori was talking about this now… Well, there had to be some connection. "Do you… suspect he is back?"

"I did, but now I am not so sure." Toshinori admitted, "He had this ability to summon a creature that was invisible to most people. It was black and appeared like a ghost. He created it out of this black smoke that no one else could see, either. I… I saw that. Recently. That black smoke and that ghost creature- except the source of the smoke was not that man and the ghost creature looked completely different in shape than the other one, the first one." He stopped rubbing his hands together. Instead, he interlaced his fingers and clenched them tightly.

"The ability to come back from death… any death? That must be an incredible quirk." Naomasa said, "One of your students has it, you think?"

"Not just one of them," Toshinori said. "The one I took under my wing. The one I chose as my successor. The one I gave my power to. Midoriya Izuku. I believe he has the power to return from death and to summon a black ghost to fight for him."

Naomasa opened his mouth and then shut it again without saying a word. Had he read this in a report or seen it in an article, hell, if he'd seen this on a television program he would have thought it a plot device, a twist in the story that was just too good to be true. The greatest hero gives his power to a young successor, only to discover that the successor was born with the same power as the man who had killed the hero's mentor. It was convoluted, insane, unbelievable- "Hell, Toshi, are you saying what I think you're saying? You think that kid is related to that monster Nana fought years ago?"

"What other explanation is there? They have the same quirk," Toshinori said, "And not much is known about his father. They must be related. Which… Which means that I…" He bowed his head again, pressing his clasped hands to his forehead, "I fucked up. I royally fucked up."

Naomasa didn't agree, out loud anyway. Instead, he reached his hand out and clasped Toshinori on the shoulder. "Let me look into this. I'll reopen the case. If the kid fought and bled today, I'll find his blood and test it. I'll look into his paternity. We shouldn't jump to conclusions. There could be some other reason."

In the back of his mind, he suddenly remembered Hematess. He'd given her everything he had had on the splatter case and hadn't heard anything from her since then. Maybe she'd made some headway. Maybe she had some answers for him.

In either case, she would undoubtedly be willing to help him chase this lead down the rabbit hole it came from.

"We'll get to the bottom of this," Naomasa promised, "I swear it."

Toshinori gave him a grateful bob of the head but said nothing.

* * *

A ringing phone echoed in the lab.

And rang.

And rang.

"Get your damn phone you piece of shit! Don't you recognize your own ringtone when you hear it?" Haruka shouted from one side of the lab. Despite her shout, her hand was incredibly steady as she made a careful slice through her experimental material.

"Sorry," came the reply, snide and sharp. Tessa kicked off her desk, nose still buried in the report she was reading and rode her wheeled chair to another desk. She picked up her phone and without looking at the caller ID, answered it. "Hamilton speaking."

"You still working on that splatter case?" Naomasa's voice was a touch strained, but Tessa still understood it. "I mean the one with the six-"

"Yes," She said. "You gave it to me, Tsukauchi. No take backs." She shook the report in her hand, "I've found some very interesting stuff related to it! You should let me fully reopen the case."

"Fine," Naomasa said, "But only partially. We have to be a lot more delicate with this one than we were before."

"Wait, what? Really?" Tessa lowered her papers. She pulled her phone from her ear but that only confirmed it was Naomasa. "What did you find out?"

"...I can't talk now. Can we meet up later this week? When do you have time?"

"Thursday," she said immediately. "I work half days. I'll be done at two. Anytime after then is fine."

"Thursday at six then," he said, "I'll text you the address for where. Excuse me, I need to go." He hung up abruptly, not even letting Tessa overhear anything from the background. She stared at her phone a little bit more and then smiled.

"I can hear you wasting my time, Tess," Haruka said with her back still turned. "You can play with your special blood case later. Right now we're busy with other work."

"Right. I'll get right on that." Tess put her phone down and rolled back across to her first desk.

She didn't stop smiling for several hours.

* * *

[Part 7 of 7]


	20. Intermission: Rider

**note: i'm gonna be doing a couple updates this weekend so make sure you don't accidentally skip a chapter!**

* * *

 **Intermission : rider**

 _The scene in which Usagi-chan picks up Katsuki during the USJ event._

* * *

The end of Katsuki's canon smoked as he lowered it. He looked to where he had shot and grimaced, "Cowardly fuck. He fucking ran!"

Beside him, Kirishima rubbed his eyes. The fireball had been a sudden attack at close range and he hadn't been prepared for the flash of light. "He did? How can you tell? You hit him dead on!"

"Well, for one fucking thing, the mist has fucked off, "Katsuki said, gesturing around them. He stepped forward to a smear of red on the concrete. "For another, this isn't enough blood for someone to die from." He crouched down, looking at the blood closer. "I hit him, though. And pretty damn hard too. He's a scared little bitch, running away from his fucking death."

"How do you know that about the blood?" Kirishima asked, "Do you watch a lot of true crime shows or something?"

Katsuki grunted. "Or something." He straightened up and grumbled to himself, "Where the fuck did that bastard run off to?" There were a few other students nearby, looking around and clustered together for safety. Katsuki didn't pay them any mind. He already knew that Izuku was somewhere else- and they would point out Black Mist if they saw him again.

Izuku was Katsuki's second priority, after getting some sweet vengeance on the misty bastard. Since Katsuki was pretty sure he'd seen All Might descend out of the sky a little while ago, Katsuki's only worry was that Izuku would do something in front of the man and upset himself.

There was an unusual scrape of something against concrete immediately followed by Kirishima's shout, "Bakugou! Look out behind you!"

Katsuki whirled around, flames bursting in his palm. Behind him loomed something barely visible, splattered in blood and creeping towards him. It stopped when he noticed it and cocked its head to the side.

 _"Pretty Kacchan,"_ Usagi's monotone was faintly child-like. Katsuki relaxed upon recognizing it. Kirishima, on the other hand, backed up a step, his eyes bugging out of his head. _"Kacchan safe?"_

"Hey Usagi-chan," Katsuki lifted up a hand to her. "Yeah, I'm safe. How about you and Deku?"

Usagi stepped closer and pressed her forehead against his uplifted palm. She nuzzled his glove, making soft, contented noises. _"Good. Safe."_

"B-Bakugou?" Kirishima laughed nervously, "Uh. What is… Who is that?" He pointed to the space where Usagi stood. Kirishima could only see as much as Katsuki could, which was very little. The only parts of Usagi that were visible were that way because there was blood on the surface of whatever material it was that made up her body.

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "It's an invisible rabbit. Come on, moron, we have an invisible girl in our fucking class. How is this a big deal to you?" He ran his hand up to the top of Usagi's head, moving by feel alone, and scratched between her ears. "Usagi-chan, can you be a good girl and take me to Deku? I gotta make sure he doesn't go fucking shit up again."

 _"Good girl. Good girl."_ Usagi intoned, bobbing her head. She shuffled closer and crouched down, turning her head to the side and offering her back to Katsuki.

"Sweet," Katsuki said. He'd been partially worried that she'd scoop him up and carry him in her arms. That would have been weird. But riding on her back was perfectly acceptable. He climbed up, clamping down with his knees and thighs and gripping her shoulders tightly. "I'm ready. Let's go."

 _"Run, run, run!"_ Usagi chanted as she turned back to, presumably, where she came from. Katsuki ducked his head and grinned. Usagi was _quick_. He could definitely see this ability to ride her coming in handy later on.

* * *

[Part 1 of 3]


	21. Intermission: Connected Thoughts

Naomasa removed his hat as he stepped into _Lava Java_ , a small, family owned cafe that stood at the corner of a fairly busy intersection near the police headquarters. He was a familiar face there, most policemen were, and so the smile from the woman behind the counter was genuine as she greeted him.

"Good evening, sir," she said. "What can I get you?"

Scanning the menu, he decided with a little shrug, "The house special for today sounds nice. And it'll be for here, I'm meeting up with a f- an associate."

"Of course sir, right away."

Naomasa was pulling out his wallet to pay when Tessa stalked over. She jumped in, saying with surprising sweetness, "Allow me to pay for your drink, Tsukauchi. It's the least I can do for the good news you're bringing me."

"Ah, well all right." He tucked his wallet away and allowed Tessa to pay. Then she led him back the table she had taken near a back window. There was evidence she had been there a while, with a half-eaten sandwich on a plate and more than half the table swamped in files and pictures. Naomasa reached down and picked up one of the pages.

"This is the whole file? Looks like you've doubled it since the last time I saw it."

Tessa sat down on her chair, legs folded so her feet didn't touch the floor. She gestured with the back of a pen, "All this over here are events I think are related that I've been going over. Over here I've been trying to compile a timeline for everything. I figure if I can track the activity, I can figure out what the point of all this was."

Naomasa sat down opposite her, resting his hat off to the side of the table and setting down a thin folder of his own. "I think I might have the answer to that question. I have reason to believe that, at least of the original six blood splatters, these are quirk tests."

"Well that's _obvious,"_ Tessa rolled her eyes, "The real question is what was being tested and by how many people."

"Most of the sightings had at least one person there, but some had two or more, correct?" Naomasa asked.

"And the only consistent trait is dark hair," Tessa confirmed with a nod of her head. She pulled out a collection of several pages and waved it. "I've gone over every testimony given and only Montaro gave anything halfway decent. Well, at least for the original six. If we broaden our search a little bit, you find _this."_

She dug through the papers until she found a set that was stapled together. Tessa handed that over along with a couple of pictures. _"This_ was discovered less than a month after the last blood splatter. I came across it when I started looking through at some unsolved crimes and flat out mysteries in the area. It has all the markers of one of those events except for one thing."

Naomasa held the glossy crime scene photo in one hand. He'd seen plenty of awful things in his line of work, but dismemberment was always one of the uglier things he had to deal with.

The photos were taken near the back of a shrine, Naomasa could tell that much from them but he couldn't determine where or what shrine. The focus of the images was a large spray of blood, an arm with a jagged wound where it had separated from its body and a leg from the knee down with the same sort of wound.

"There were reports of explosions in the area. The shrine itself was empty for the weekend, but locals heard the noise and called it in. The local police deemed it dangerous enough to send in a Pro. When she got there, she discovered _this."_ Tessa said, pointing to the scene photo. "The police collected all the limbs and still had them preserved when I came asking about them months later."

She handed over another photo, this one much cleaner but the sight of it made Naomasa's stomach drop. It was a lab table with the two limbs, cleaned up and labeled.

"You say it's someone testing their quirk?" Tessa said proudly, "I say it's a teenage boy _without one._ Look a little closer, Tsukauchi."

"Excuse me."

Naomasa looked up at the waitress. She gave a little bob of the head and deposited his drink on one of the few places where the table was visible. He nodded back to her and then turned his attention to Tessa as the other woman left.

"Explain."

Tessa produced, of all things, an x-ray. "The foot that was found was a left foot. The little toe still has its joint. Plus, with so much tissue, I was able to do a detailed analysis of the blood, bone, muscle, tendon, marrow, -everything, I was able to test everything." She spoke quickly, clearly excited about her discovery. "There isn't a bit of a quirk in this boy, whoever he was."

"Ah," Naomasa said thoughtfully. He drank his tea. Explosions and dark hair… "There weren't any limbs left at the other places. Do you have any theories or…?"

"Well the neighbors thought that there was a villain at the shrine so when the Pro Hero came, she surprised them. I have her witness statement around here somewhere. It's because of her that I think it's two people." Tessa began to shuffle through her papers again, searching for the witness statement.

At the same time, Naomasa picked up his folder and opened it up in his hands.

"Ah, here it is," She said, lifting it up. Her eyes skimmed the page until she found the section she was looking for, "Suspects were two teenagers, one blond, one with dark hair. Both scattered upon discovery and were unable to be located. Remains of a third person were found, as was large quantities of blood and evidence of explosions. A survey of the area noted that there was a local student with an explosive quirk, but he had a valid alibi. He was at his friend's house the entire afternoon, as corroborated by the friend and the friend's mother." Tessa set down the paper. Her mouth was open to continue talking, but when she saw Naomasa holding his meager folder open, she shut it with a snap.

Naomasa pulled out a small picture. It was the one that Toshinori had given him. Toshinori had gotten it from the school. It was Midoriya Izuku's photo that had been attached to his application. "This is Midoriya Izuku," he said while he handed over the image. "He was born without a quirk-"

"Toe joint and everything?" Tessa whispered eyes wide. She held the picture gingerly in her hands, as though she might destroy it with her touch.

"Toe joint and everything," Naomasa replied. "He is… extremely close friends with this boy, Bakugou Katsuki." He pulled out another image, the same type of picture as Midoriya's but with Bakugou's face. He had a sinking feeling that the boys had probably taken their pictures at the same time. If one were to set them right next to each other, the background was nearly seamless.

Tessa's eyes grew even wider as she took Bakugou's picture. "No way," she breathed. "And these two…"

"Bakugou has a quirk. His sweat contains a nitroglycerin like substance that he can ignite and use as an explosive." Naomasa explained. "The two are childhood friends. They live in the same neighborhood, attended the same school and are very, very close."

She didn't say anything in response, just stared from one picture to the other. Slowly, her gaze drifted down to the table, to the picture of the arm and the leg on the lab table. "...It makes sense for quirkless kids to band together, but being quirkless is so rare… How did they find another person without a quirk that they could... Do things to?"

There was a heavy beat of silence. Naomasa hesitated, not knowing exactly how to bring this up. However, Tessa read into his silence with a narrowed gaze. She lay Midoriya's picture down next to the dismembered limbs, "There's no… Unless someone else were to heal him…" Then she looked at Bakugou's picture again.

Tessa opened her mouth and took a breath, but ultimately closed it again, lips pressing into a thin line. She shook her head.

"What is it?" Naomasa asked.

She shook her head again, "Just an errant thought."

Frowning slightly, Naomasa said, "Given all this information, what I want to investigate is neither one of the boys, but, in fact, Midoriya's father." He tapped the top of Midoriya's picture. "There are some concerns about the man and not enough public information to assuage them. Midoriya's mother has a marriage certificate and a birth record for her son, and there is a man's name attached, but there are questions…"

Tessa shook her head, "What does the father matter? You investigate that yourself. I want to bring in the boys to test. I'm sure I can get Bakugou's family to agree… Midoriya will be harder to persuade."

"Once you get a direct sample of Midoriya's blood you'll be able to confirm whether or not he was the one leaving behind those marks, correct?"

"Obviously. The question is how a quirkless child can take that injury and come back. Tell me, was he missing an arm and a leg when you came to see him?"

"He was not," Naomasa said. "As far as I could tell he was whole." Given that he had his arms and practically a leg wrapped around Bakugou, Naomasa figured that Midoriya having all of his limbs was a given.

Tessa cupped her chin in her palm. Her eyes were downcast, looking at the two headshots. "...A quirkless boy and one with explosive sweat. How do the two of them come up with these plots? Who's quirk are they testing? What kind of quirk doesn't fully present in childhood?"

Naomasa sighed, a little relieved. He hadn't really worried that she wouldn't take up the work, but he _had_ worried that her obsession with the bloodstains would have lead to another Incident. Tessa was still a registered Pro Hero, but she wasn't affiliated with any agencies because of her tendency to… obsess. Blood was, in many cases, her life.

"One more thing," Naomasa said, "I'm allowed to give you special dispensation for this one, Hamilton. Because of your quirk and your dedication to the case, you're allowed to investigate and determine Midoriya's status in conjunction with these events. If he is the source and he is responsible, measures need to be made. Keep in mind, though, that you'll be reporting back to me when this is all said and done."

Tessa smiled, showing a bit more teeth than Naomasa was comfortable with. "That doesn't change anything. I'll find out what's going on, Tsukauchi. You can bet on that."

A shiver ran down Naomasa's spine, but considering how often Tessa came off as eerie, he was used to it and paid it no mind this time.

* * *

Shouta's exhaustion levels were off the chart. They had long since fallen off the chart, rolled across the floor, out the door and to an elevator, where they passed out until the next morning where the janitor jarred them into consciousness with a nudge to the side.

He lay in his bed, eyes closed because opening them was too much effort, and did the two most effortless things he could manage: listen and breathe. Breathing was surprisingly easy. He had expected worse injuries than he'd gotten, to be frank, and was far more worried about the pounding headache behind his eyes.

Listening was even easier. He didn't even have to move to make that work. He could just lie there and listen to other people breathe, to the steady monitoring of different machines, and to the infrequent discussions that floated around him.

There was one of those going on now. It took a while for his brain to distinguish the voices (that took an effort to do through his headache) but once he did he found himself listening along, as attentive as he could manage now.

"...concerning. I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only one concerned. And there's no way that kind of thing is good around the other students. If they see it enough, there's no way they won't normalize it. I mean, I'm a casual guy, I understand you've got to let some people just live their life however they want, but they're _kids._ There's gotta be _something_ we can do." That was Hizashi, who was never particularly good at talking quietly. Shouta didn't care so much about the volume, though, it just made it easier to pick out his words.

"I fear that we made a mistake in putting them in the same class," and that was Toshinori. Quieter and more somber. He was always that way when talking about his students. He also had that rasp to his voice that told Shouta he wasn't putting on any airs about his own health and body. "I had experience with Midoriya before school began, but saw he was only somewhat socially stunted. Bakugou was his closest friend and, at the time, there didn't seem to be any of this level of codependency to them."

"It couldn't have developed all at once. And there's no way that it'll last." Hizashi said, "So there has to be a way to separate them." He gave a sharp exhale and then asked, "Are you seeing any results in pairing them with other students for training exercises or group work?"

A muffled sound, a head shake perhaps? Without opening his eyes Shouta couldn't tell. Toshinori said, "They never react poorly to being given partners that aren't each other. Other than Bakugou's natural disagreeable personality, they get along well one on one with others. And, it turns out, the others rather like Midoriya when he's on his own. It's only that when they're together that they become hostile."

Shouta let out a deep breath, an almost sigh. He'd heard this conversation a dozen times at least already. It was exhausting. There was nothing that they could do from the outside, that was clear enough. The only way to fix the boys' relationship into something healthier would be to do it from the inside out.

If there was some way to reach into their minds and tweak their thoughts or memories… Not remove them, per say, but adjust their intensity. To make it so their world did not revolve around the other boy… Some treatment or quirk or _something_ that could help...

Shouta's brain trailed off on that thought. He felt like he was grasping after something _just_ within reach. An idea or a connection that slipped through his mental fingers like seawater, leaving behind a salty residue and a smell that hinted at _something._

Plowing through his headache was too much work, though, and his body was too exhausted to push on. So he settled back and let his thoughts spin out into sleep again. It would come to him when he woke up again, he was sure.


	22. Conflagration 1

**Conflagration: Summary  
**

 _After USJ, Katsuki, Izuku and the rest of their class prepare for the Sport Festival._

 _The students get riled up, both inside and outside Class A. The teachers find that there's more going on with Katuski and Izuku than meets the eye. A surprising alliance is made between some of the students._

 _Very quickly, people discover that even when it's a Free-For-All, nothing will stop Katsuki and Izuku from working side-by-side as a team until the bitter end._

* * *

 **Chapter 1 of 20**

* * *

After setting his bag on his desk, Izuku slid into his seat with a soft thump. There were still several minutes left before class started and so he took his time getting out his books and papers. Beside him, Katsuki did the same, flipping through one of their textbooks. Izuku glanced up to see where he settled and smiled when he recognized the chapter that had been given as homework two days ago.

He pulled out a pair of notebooks, one for class and one for his errant notes unrelated to class. He hung his bag on the hook off the side of his desk and flipped through his notebook, looking for where he last left off. As he reread his work, Izuku idly scratched at the bandages on his neck.

"Stop doing that," Katsuki said.

Izuku glanced up, hands freezing where they were. Katsuki had his cheek in his palm and his elbow on his table. His head was turned towards Izuku. "Eh?"

"Stop scratching."

"But it itches," Izuku pouted as he dutifully lowered his hand. "And it feels kind of weird."

"I don't care. Don't scratch it anyway." Katsuki added extra incentive to his words by leaning over to kick the leg of Izuku's desk.

Izuku sighed.

"And stop acting like this is such a trial for you," Katsuki said, kicking his desk again, "You're the one who chose this."

"But Kacchan-" Izuku began but he was cut off when another student spoke over him.

"Excuse me for interrupting," Izuku turned to see Tokoyami standing on the other side of his desk. "I have a question."

Izuku brightened up, "Yes? What is it?"

For him, it was easy to ignore the angry glare from Katsuki in the back of his head. Katsuki was worried that Tokoyami might ask a too prying question and that Izuku, in his excitement, would answer it. Izuku, on the other hand, was not as worried. Tokoyami seemed to falter for a moment, under Katsuki's glare as well, before he straightened his back and gave a bob of his head. "Kirishima claims that he saw an invisible creature that was your companion. I wanted to know if that was true or some sort of battle-induced hallucination."

"Battle induced- People can get that?" Izuku turned around, "Kacchan did you know?"

"Adrenaline does some weird shit to the brain," Katsuki replied.

"Please focus, Midoriya," Tokoyami said with a tone of mild exasperation.

Smiling, Izuku turned back. "It's true. She's the reason I wanted to speak with you on the bus ride out, yesterday."

"Your questions made it sound like you don't know much about her. How recent was this development?" Tokoyami asked. He folded his arms over his chest, but Izuku could see the nervous way he shifted from side to side.

"It's true I don't know much about her, but I'm doing tests to find out everything I can." Izuku quickly put up his hands, "I'm not doing anything inhumane with her! She mostly runs around and interacts with things or people. In fact, yesterday was the first time she ever attacked anything with any seriousness. I think she went a little overboard."

"...A little overboard?" Tokoyami asked with a tilt of his head.

"Well, she killed that villain."

There was a pause. Tokoyami blinked.

Kirishima, sitting in front of Katsuki, had turned around to listen in. This is when he chimed in with, "I wondered why she was covered with blood. What did she _do?"_

"I wasn't there for most of it," Izuku said, "But she fought the monster that had taken sensei captive. Tsuyu was there for the fight, I think. And Mineta." He sat up abruptly and looked to Katsuki, "Don't let me forget to ask them about that! They might not have been able to see Usagi, but they must have seen what she did. They have invaluable information about her fighting style."

"Mm," Katsuki shrugged noncommittally.

"Dude," Kirishima said, resting his folded arms on the back of his chair, "You were really manly when that blood covered invisible thing showed up! I can't believe how you just climbed on her back like that. So cool! But didn't you get a lot of blood on you?"

Katsuki's red eyes slid off of Izuku and flicked to Kirishima. "When you're around Deku, you get used to blood getting all over your shit. Why do you think my uniform is mostly black and his is mostly red?"

"Oh, uh," Kirishima laughed, at a loss for words.

"Back to the point," Tokoyami interrupted again. "How recent is this development? You treat her as though you just discovered her when most companion-quirks develop in childhood so that the bonded pair can grow up together. Is this not the case with your Usagi?"

"Develop in childhood?" Izuku repeated quietly. This time, when he gave Katsuki a glance, it was one of confusion, of fleeting fear and concern. Katsuki instantly picked up on the difference.

Katsuki went from idly watching to aggressive in a second. He pushed his chair back, hands slamming onto his desk, "That's enough. Time to fuck off, you little shit. I'm sick of listening to all of the chatter on and on about this stupid bullshit."

"Kacchan," Izuku said meekly, but not with any real effort to try and stop him. He nervously ran his hand across the side and back of his neck, rough fingers running over the bandages that covered his skin.

"Midoriya started the questions," Tokoyami stated, taking the rare stance of arguing with Katsuki. "I was merely-"

"You told him to fuck off before and now I'm telling you the fucking same, asshole." Katsuki's volume rose the longer he spoke, "Fuck. Off. I don't want to hear any more of this."

"Midoriya," Tokoyami said, adjusting his attention to him, "We could speak elsewhere-"

"Oh no you don't," Katsuki stepped across the aisle, crowding the side of Izuku's desk. Fire flashed in his eyes and he lay a possessive hand on Izuku's shoulder. "You're not going to fucking drag him off to talk to. That's _not_ going to happen."

Tokoyami pulled back, affronted. Izuku kept his head bowed, eyes down at his hands in his lap so he they wouldn't be able to meet each other's gaze. "Are you serious? You don't own Midoriya, Bakugou. You don't control where he goes or who he talks to."

There was a little ripple of a gasp from the onlooking students. Izuku heard a distant, "Oh my god he actually said it," from someone. Katsuki's fingers dug harder into his shoulder but Izuku didn't even flinch. This kind of confrontation had never happened in their classes in middle school. No one had cared what had happened to Izuku there. No one had cared that Katsuki had seemingly controlled Izuku.

No one had pushed back against Katsuki the way that the Yuuei kids did. They weren't fearless, but they weren't scared into submission either.

"Deku belongs to me," Katsuki declared. The smugness in his voice made Izuku look up. Despite the tight grip Katsuki had on his shoulder, his face was an expression of superiority. "Just because you don't fucking get it doesn't make it any less true. Fuck the hell off, birdbrain, because now I'm getting sick of looking at you too."

"Midoriya is his own person," Tokoyami insisted, though he did slide back half a step at Katsuki's glare. "You-"

"Listen you little fuck," Katsuki lurched forwards, reaching for Tokoyami across the desk. Izuku shot up out of his seat, catching the brunt of Katsuki's energy and holding him back.

"Kacchan, please," Izuku said in an undertone. He met Katsuki's gaze and held it the same way he held Katsuki's wrist.

Tokoyami had backed up another step, shoulders up and his shadow quirk poking its head out from behind his shoulder. Izuku gave him a helpless little smile and said, "Is it okay if we talk another time? I'm sorry, Tokoyami. I'm very curious about your quirk and I think that you can help me with mine but… now is not a good time."

Tokoyami's gaze flicked from Izuku to Katsuki and back. "...Fine. Another time." He took a step back and then another before he edged away. He never totally put his back to Katsuki, clearly not trusting him to stay back.

Izuku leaned into Katsuki's grip, "Kacchan-" he whispered.

Katsuki grunted. He twisted his hand around so that he held Izuku's wrist the same way that Izuku held his. "C'mon." He dragged Izuku away from his desk, heading for the doorway.

"Kacchan, class is about to start-"

Katsuki glared at him. Izuku sighed and didn't resist as Katsuki hauled him out into the hallway. The bathroom was close enough, that if they ran too and from it, they _probably_ wouldn't be that late to class.

Of course, as soon as Katsuki ran, Izuku followed suit.

* * *

"Way to poke a stick at the tiger in its cage, Tokoyami. Nice one." Kyouka said as he walked past.

Tokoyami shot her a sharp look. "Something has to be done. They're going to destroy each other if we leave them alone. At least there's something salvageable out of Midoriya."

Kyouka lifted her head, watching as Bakugou hauled Midoriya out of the classroom. "Are you sure about that?"

Tokoyami turned his head away, "There's still something good in him. There's nothing but anger in Bakugou. I know what anger looks like. Intimately." He stalked to his seat, spine stiff with indignation.

Kyouka shrugged and went back to fiddling with her notes.

* * *

Izuku arched off the wall in the bathroom stall, head back in a gasp of pleasure and fingers tangled in Katsuki's hair. The air was filled with the crude sound of sucking and slurping and his desperate attempts to bring air into his lungs. Katsuki was altogether too good at pulling it out of him again and again.

He bit his bottom lip hard. The scab from the night before broke and he tasted blood. Izuku did his best to keep his voice down, but infrequent pleas dropped from his lips like his blood.

There was a wet popping noise as Katsuki pulled off his cock. "Deku," he said, his voice rough and low.

Izuku rolled his head around and looked down at Katsuki. "Hnn?" He couldn't speak words, couldn't even formulate them in his head. When the _hell_ had Katsuki gotten so good at sucking? Izuku hadn't realized it.

"You know better than that," Katsuki said, "Don't look at the ceiling. Look at me."

Izuku bobbed his head. Katsuki glared for a second more before he went back to sucking. Izuku had no idea how much time had passed, only that it seemed like Katsuki would be wrapped around his dick forever and a day.

He stared down at Katsuki, eyes transfixed by the image of Katsuki's lips around him, by the way his cock filled Katsuki's mouth, by the hungry look that Katsuki gave him in return. Izuku's hips bucked off the wall, but Katsuki rode those desperate thrusts well enough.

Izuku sobbed out Katsuki's name when he came, toes curling in his shoes and nails digging into Katsuki's scalp. He shuddered and continued to shiver as Katsuki sucked him dry, milking him for every last drop.

When Katsuki finally pulled back, the back of his hand pressed to his mouth as he swallowed the rest of Izuku's cum, Izuku found himself sliding down the wall, unable to support himself on shaking legs. Blearily, he reached for Katsuki, panting, "Kacchan?"

"My turn," Katsuki said. Izuku nodded in agreement, willing to do whatever Katsuki wanted, just as long as he wasn't asked to stand. He tipped his head back as Katsuki got up from his knees to stand in front of Izuku. A smile flit across his split lips when Katsuki ran a hand through his dark curls. That hand felt so incredibly good that Izuku groaned, eyes fluttering a little before remaining open.

Sitting at eye level to Katsuki's groin, Izuku expected to have Katsuki use his mouth. Instead, he found Katsuki kept that one hand in his hair and the other held his own cock. Looking up, Izuku blinked to clear his vision.

With his back to the light, Katsuki's face was mostly in shadow, but that seemed to do nothing to dull the burning in his eyes. As he worked his hand up and down the shaft of his cock, Katsuki said, "You belong to me, Deku. You. Are. Mine."

"Yours," Izuku whispered. He ran his hands up Katsuki's legs, circling around to the backs of his thighs so he could pull him closer. "Kacchan, please," his breath was so faint, making his words fainter still. Izuku could barely hear himself over the steady thump of his own heart in his ears, "I want you inside of me, Kacchan."

"Fuck," Katsuki said. Izuku opened his mouth, tongue lolling out, and Katsuki took the wordless invitation at face value. He pushed past Izuku's lips with his cock, thrusting carefully and shallowly at first.

Izuku's gaze never wavered from Katsuki's face, even though it meant he had to look straight up. In return, Katsuki's fingers tightened in Izuku's hair, pulling him closer and thrusting deeper.

Izuku's eyes watered as he fought his reaction to gag. His fingers dug into Katsuki's legs as he struggled to do for Katsuki what had been done for him.

A string of curses and groans filled the air as Katsuki fucked Izuku's mouth, filling it and his throat as he pushed farther each time. He didn't last nearly as long as Izuku did, but considering he'd been hard when they'd started and Katsuki had had to work Izuku into the same state first, Izuku wasn't all that surprised.

What did surprise him was the way Katsuki pulled back as he came, hand on his cock again as he wrung out every last drop. Izuku instinctively closed his eyes as the cum splattered up across his cheek and forehead. He gasped for breath, blood and cum dripping from his split lip to his chin.

Katsuki finally let go of Izuku's hair. He braced himself against the wall with his arm, looking down at Izuku with an easy, lopsided grin. "Fuck," he said, "You're such a goddamn mess, Deku."

Izuku licked his lips and looked up at Katsuki. His face was hot, not just from the flush that colored his skin but from Katsuki's cum. He only felt warmer from Katsuki's compliment and offered up a smile in return. "Only for you, Kacchan," Izuku whispered, "Only for you."

* * *

"So glad you two decided to join us for class," Shouta said without looking up from his papers as the door to the classroom opened.

"Sorry sensei," Midoriya and Bakugou said in unison, though Midoriya's words were sincere and Bakugou's said with a roll of his eyes.

"Are you really okay to be teaching, Sensei? You're all… bandages." Midoriya asked.

Shouta looked up to see that Midoriya had stopped to address him, earnest concern written all over his face. Bakugou had stopped further down the aisle, looking over his shoulder and silent. The rest of the class was quiet as well.

"I'm quite fine to teach," Shouta said. There was something off about Midoriya's appearance. His eyes flicked over the boy from head to toe. "After all, injured or not, we must prepare you students for the next battle in your life. There's no resting on our laurels after only one victory."

Ah. That was it. There were bandages around Midoriya's throat. Those hadn't been there before and, if the reports were accurate, Midoriya had walked away without a scratch on him like the rest of the students.

This wasn't Shouta's first year teaching high school. He was well aware of the marks on the neck that students tried and failed to hide every year. However, those were usually single bandages over small hickeys, not wraps around the throat that nearly went up to the jaw.

Midoriya agreed with his statement and headed back to his seat.

Before he got too comfortable, though, Shouta shuffled his papers and said, "After this class, Midoriya, I would like to speak privately with you. _Alone_ privately."

He didn't miss the way Midoriya stiffened, or the glance he gave to Bakugou and he certainly didn't miss the way Bakugou glared at him for the entire class period.

 _What,_ Shouta thought to himself as he taught the lesson, _did they really think they were being subtle in any way?_

All those chaste little kisses that they gave were going to lead somewhere and _someone_ needed to step in before the boys went too far too fast.


	23. Conflagration 2

**Conflagration**

 **Chapter 2 of 20**

* * *

"...which concludes this lesson for today," Aizawa said with a soft little cough. There was a general sigh of relief and shuffling of paper as the students around Izuku took down the last of their notes and sat back. Izuku, on the other hand, sat poised with his pencil in his hand.

He waited for almost a solid minute like that, nearly motionless while Aizawa gathered up his teaching materials and then, clearing his throat, called out to Izuku. "Please step out of the class, Midoriya, so we can have a word."

Students around Izuku turned to look at him. Izuku didn't look at them. He only bobbed his head in agreement and began to pack up his books. He closed his school books and stacked them up into a neat pile in the corner. As he slid out of his chair, though, he took his personal notebook with him.

Izuku put the tattered notebook on Katsuki's desk, meeting his gaze as he did it. Katsuki reached out with one hand, silent as could be, and gripped Izuku by the wrist. It was his left one, where Good Luck rested hidden under his sleeve. "Be careful," Katsuki said. He squeezed _hard,_ making Izuku wince. "If you need me…"

"I'll find you," Izuku whispered back. "Don't worry, Kacchan. I won't go far." He gave him a quick smile, bending over to press a kiss to Katsuki's temple. The skin was warm under his lips and he took a moment to breathe in the smell of Katsuki's shampoo before stepping away again.

Katsuki's fingers let go of him reluctantly and Izuku walked steadily up the aisle and out of the classroom, following Aizawa out into the hallway.

A frown creased Izuku's brow as he ended up following Aizawa not just out into the hallway but into an office room. He'd asked where they were going and the uninformative shrug had answered none of his questions.

Izuku had a feeling that that was a good indicator of what Aizawa had in mind for their 'conversation'.

Aizawa gestured for him to take a seat on a chair set up across from a couch once they were in the room. He himself slouched onto the couch, giving a relieved sigh as he sank down into the cushion. Izuku stepped gingerly to the chair and took it as his seat. He felt smaller and more vulnerable than he had when facing off villains only the day before.

He kept his knees close together and his hands twisted together on top of his knees. Giving his teacher a shy smile, Izuku prompted, "What did you want to talk to me about, sensei?"

"You said yesterday after the fighting that there was no injury to your neck," Aizawa said. His half-lidded eyes and tired tone belied the wit behind his exhausted, injured exterior. Izuku fought against stiffening like a deer caught in headlights. "That you had healed from all your wounds suffered during the course of your escape."

"That's true, sir."

"If that is the case, then what is the cause of the injury you have bandaged up now?" Aizawa asked bluntly. "Surely, if you could recover from a nearly one-hundred-and-eighty degree rotation of your neck, you'd be able to recover from any other injury."

Izuku couldn't help it. He stiffened. His shoulders hunched and his eyes went down. Had his head gone _that_ far around? _Fuck. Tsuyu must have seen that. And Mineta too. Shit. I need to talk to them…_

"Midoriya," Aizawa said, "Can you remove those bandages?"

Immediately, Izuku shook his head. That was not an option. His fingers twisted together in his lap, fingertips digging into his skin.

"Midoriya, it concerns me when my students gain mysterious injuries. What if you were attacked by a villain after everyone else? What if the wound could seriously injure you? We have Recovery Girl at the school for a reason."

"I'm fine, sensei," Izuku said. He did not feel fine, though. He felt trapped. He had to give Aizawa something… A shade of the truth perhaps? That was usually what Katsuki did, wasn't it? "I didn't get attacked from v-villains." He cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks turn pink. "I just… um…"

There was a knock at the door, making Izuku jump. Aizawa sighed but called out, "Come in."

Izuku stared as All Might came into the room. His characteristic smile was thin, strained. Izuku had never seen All Might knock before coming into a room. The man greeted Izuku with a thumbs up before he crossed over to the couch, "You didn't start without me, did you Aizawa?"

"Midoriya was about to explain what injury he was covering on his neck, if not the twisting injury from yesterday," Aizawa said, shifting on the couch a little. All Might sat at the other end of the table, proud and tall and for all the world like the father figure Izuku had never really experienced.

Izuku felt his face heating up but he cleared his throat. Heroes did difficult things all the time. They struggled and fought and sometimes they acquiesced small victories to others, but ultimately, heroes _won._ That was what they did. That was what Katsuki did. That was what Izuku was supposed to do.

Izuku didn't think he was going to be successful this time.

His tongue was heavy in his mouth. He couldn't look up into the faces of his teachers. Did he have to answer them? Could he get them to believe without looking? Without having to take off the bandages?

Izuku closed his eyes tightly. _I'm sorry, Kacchan, you were right. I shouldn't have kept the bruises._

"I-it's nothing," Izuku mumbled. "N-nothing serious like villains or anything. Kacchan and I just, um, we, um…" He bowed his head further and let it all go in one rush. "Kacchan and I are dating, sort of, and we were just messing around a little last night and I didn't think a few marks was worth forcing a reset to heal for. They could heal naturally! I mean I can still do that so I thought that would be the best action. They won't last very long, though so I'll be back to normal very soon! It's nothing, um, nothing dangerous! Kacchan just likes to…." _choke me when he's fucking me,_ "bite."

The long moment of silence that followed that made Izuku finally look up. The teachers quickly looked away from each other, All Might dropping his hand to his lap. Had they been silently communicating? Well, that made sense. But what had they been saying?

"Midoriya," All Might began, "Would you be comfortable showing those marks? I'm sure you can understand our concern… While Bakugou is a good student, we are worried that his temper gets the better of him sometimes."

Izuku frowned. That wasn't true at all. Katsuki was so much better about his temper these days! Sure he shouted and kicked things from time to time, but Izuku could remember when Katsuki was a vicious bully, lashing out at everyone he considered less than himself. Now he used his crassness and shouting to his own benefit, or for Izuku's like with Tokoyami before.

"Th-they're just hickeys," Izuku claimed, unwilling to budge on that. The hand-shaped bruise on his neck throbbed as he spoke, aching as he lied. "I appreciate your concern, sensei, but Kacchan and I…" He lifted his chin, trying to emulate Katsuki's confidence. He met All Might's gaze and said, "Kacchan and I can take care of each other just fine."

Izuku's teachers looked at each other again, sharing an unreadable gaze. Izuku held his breath, his heart beating in his ears. Somehow, it felt like this was only the beginning.

"There is… one other thing that we need to discuss with you," All Might said. "But first, I need to share with you something that I should have a long time ago."

Izuku thought his spine might crack if he got any stiffer and still. He couldn't help the curiosity that sprouted with that statement, especially considering the fact that All Might had given Izuku his quirk.

Green eyes flicked to Aizawa, who, with his own eyes closed now, looked for all the world like he was asleep. When he looked back to All Might, the familiar chiseled face and sculpted body had been replaced with an emaciated, almost skeletal figure. Izuku's jaw dropped as the man, who had to be All Might since he was wearing exactly the same clothes, waved away some smoke and coughed. The cough itself was wet and rough.

"A-All Might?" Izuku whispered, leaning forwards. What _was_ this?

"My boy," All Might said, mimicking Izuku in the way that he leaned forward. Except he rested his elbows on his knees to support himself. "I have many things to tell you and very important question to ask you afterward. I hope you will be able to answer me honestly, but first, will you listen to me?"

Izuku's head bobbed without consulting his brain. All Might had something to tell him? If it had anything to do with his appearance, Izuku _had_ to know.

All Might closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly gathering himself, and then he took in a deep breath and let it out. "The power that I gave to you was, in turn, once given to me…"

As he continued, Izuku had to continuously remind himself to breathe. He soaked up every word like a dry sponge exposed to moisture for the first time in a decade. He had to remember everything _exactly_ so that he could tell Katsuki about it later.

* * *

Changing in the locker room without Izuku by his side was incredibly unnerving. Katsuki did his best to ignore the empty feeling that hung in the air around him as he tugged on his gym clothes. Izuku had missed the entire last period and was still missing now as they entered their third class for the day. Katsuki had had a difficult time focusing on the last class with Izuku's notebook sitting on his desk, just in case.

 _Just in case we have to hide what we've done,_ Katsuki thought, looking at the book he'd brought with him to gym and shoved into the locker with his clothes. He was in charge of destroying evidence if they ever got… caught.

Katsuki had turned trees to splinters, a brick wall to fragments and even had half crumbled an abandoned building to cover their tracks. A notebook would be nothing on the list of things he'd destroyed with his own two hands.

 _Does Deku count on that list?_ He wondered, closing his locker at last. He stared at Izuku's next to his, filled with Izuku's gym clothes, and bit his lip, chewing it until it hurt.

As he and the other boys streamed out of the locker room, Katsuki passed Tokoyami. He didn't think anything of it, barely noticed him while preoccupied with thoughts of Izuku, but the same couldn't be same for Tokoyami.

He crept up to Katsuki's side, arms folded across his chest. His dark little shadow was curled around his shoulders, head poking out from behind him and watching Katsuki was visible hostility as Tokoyami whispered, "He's been gone for a long time. I wonder what he could possibly be saying to them. Maybe something about the way you control everything he does?"

For a second, it felt like Katsuki had paused real life. He could feel two instinctive reactions and, like in a video game, he had split second to choose between them, forever changing how the rest of this scene would play out. Knowing that there was no way to go back, no way to reset his own life or experiences the way that Izuku could, Katsuki balled up his fist and took the low road.

He turned on his heel, one hand snatching the front of Tokoyami's gym clothes and the other a smoldering fist of fire and smoke. Katsuki had a few inches and several pounds on Tokoyami and he used all of that to half lift the birdboy up and haul him back until Tokoyami was pinned against the wall with one hand.

Tokoyami wasn't like anyone else Katsuki had intimidated, though, he was a hero in training, so he gripped Katsuki's wrist with one hand while his quirk- his shitty shadow monster- swept out at Katsuki.

Katsuki saw it coming and answered in turn, quirk for quirk.

The explosion that resulted when his fist connected to the shadow bird lit up the hallway and filed it with the acrid smell of nitro on fire. The proximity of the explosion made Katsuki's ears ring, so he figured it had to be worse for Tokoyami. Drawing back his fist again, he aimed this time for the other boy he still held pinned to the wall.

This time, his fist didn't connect because someone behind him had grabbed it. Two hands held back his right arm while another was grabbing his left shoulder. Katsuki turned his head to see Shouji, the multi-armed tentacle freak, looming behind him.

"Let him go, Bakugou," Shouji said with a serious gaze.

Katsuki grinned up at him, baring all his teeth like a vicious dog, "I got a question for you, fucker," His caught palm began to crackle threateningly, "How quickly can you grow back your fucking arms?"

Shouji's visible eye widened and his grip slackened just enough for Katsuki to twist out of it. Just as Shouji realized that he'd lost his hold, Tokoyami began to struggle in Katsuki's own.

Katsuki hauled Tokoyami forward. Using that momentum, he twisted around and tossed Tokoyami into Shouji's chest and put his own back to the wall. He didn't need any other fuckers sneaking the hell up on him. "Do you want to fucking go for round fucking two, birdshit? Or have you learned your goddamn place?"

"You attacking me doesn't make what I said any less true," Tokoyami said with one hand pressed to the side of his head. Shouji stood just behind him, bracing him with a pair of hands. He stood a foot taller than Tokoyami and, as such, formed a good barrier with him. "You're only angry because I'm right. You control Midoriya and now that he's finally away from you, he's going to stay away."

Katsuki scoffed, "You don't have any damn clue what you're talking about."

"Hey! What is going on over here!" The gravelly voice of Cementoss was enough to make Shouji look away, but Katsuki held Tokoyami's eyes. He wasn't about to look away and let him or that shadow fuck attack again.

One of the other boys piped up with an answer, Katsuki didn't care, he just focused on the way Tokoyami's eyes narrowed and his shadow glared. He wanted another swing or five, to really get into the fight and not just have these one-off scuffles time and time again. Fighting the villains yesterday had given Katsuki a taste of what it could be like, what being a real, active hero was like.

He wanted more. He needed more.

 _Where in the hell is Deku?_ Katsuki thought as Cementoss came to stand between them. He admonished Tokoyami and Katsuki equally, giving them both detention as a punishment afterschool and the 'opportunity to run off their energy' by making them run laps for the whole gym period instead of participating with the others. Katsuki shrugged, not caring in the least about the running.

Without Izuku there, he wouldn't have enjoyed their proper class anyway.

To keep them from fighting again, Cementoss had them run in different locations, putting Katsuki outside on the track and Tokoyami inside around the gym.

The last Katsuki saw of his class for that period was when he shoved his way to the external doors leading to the track and Kirishima reached out to him.

"Hey," Kirishima gripped his arm for a second. Katsuki spun on him, twisting out of his grip and glaring.

"The fuck do you want?"

"Midoriya's probably fine," Kirishima said, offering a smile. Katsuki stared at him in confusion. "I mean, he's been gone a while but he's with the teachers. So he's gotta be okay. He'll be back later, man."

"I'm not fucking worried about him," Katsuki said with a sneer. "If he needed me, he'd find me." He turned his back on Kirishima and left him alone in the hallway. He had time to waste and laps to run and no interest in whatever weird conversation Kirishima wanted to start up.

When lunch hit and Izuku still hadn't returned to class, Katsuki decided it was long past time he found Izuku and _no one_ was going to get in his fucking way.


	24. Conflagration 3

**Conflagration**

 **Chapter 3 of 20**

* * *

The last time Inko had been summoned to Izuku's school had been almost three years ago when he was a little over twelve. The principal had called her because he and Katsuki had gotten in another fight- except unlike every fight she'd heard about before, the two boys had been on the same side. Katsuki had nearly broken another boy's arm and Izuku had ended up with a terribly bloody nose and they both had been suspended for three days.

At first it had seemed like Izuku had broken his nose, but that didn't seem to be the case when the swelling had gone down after one night at home. Katsuki himself had been uninjured, and according the boys, Izuku had taken a punch for him which had bloodied his nose.

Inko never got the full story from her son, but the three days without school were spent with Katsuki at her home. Izuku and Katsuki had their heads bent together over their books or over whatever game they played. By the end of the three days, Inko had grown used to the idea of her son recovering his friendship with Katsuki.

From that week on, the boys had been nearly inseparable.

Watching them had been worrying, joyful and heartbreaking, because no matter how frequently they spent the night at each other's homes, no matter how much the boys trusted and worked with each other, that repaired relationship hadn't extended to her and Haruka. Katsuki had mellowed out a little. Izuku had become more confident. The two of them acted as close as brothers, a bond that had only grown closer when they'd started to go to Yuuei.

This was why Inko _wasn't_ worried when Nedzu called and asked her to stop by Yuuei, so they could discuss some things about Izuku with her. In fact, she went with a smile, promising to hurry over there as soon as she could.

Yuuei was a grand school. Inko had seen video of the outside several times and had heard the boys talk about it even more than that. The walls were even more impressive than she'd thought and the building itself made her stop and stare, wide-eyed, for half a minute before she could walk up the front path.

She'd made it maybe an hour before lunch had started and wondered if she'd be able to see the Lunch Rush hero that Izuku had told her about. Walking in, she followed a few signs that led to the offices of the school, a small smile on her lips. Maybe she'd even get a chance to see All Might himself! Knowing that he was one of Izuku's teachers had helped put her mind to ease over Izuku attending this school.

If All Might couldn't keep her boy safe while he was being taught how to be a hero himself, no one could.

It was with this hope in her heart that Inko opened the office door and stepped inside. Her hand froze on the door as she almost instantly recognized one of the other people in the room.

Even with her back to Inko, Haruka's short blond hair and confident posture were immediately recognizable to someone who knew the Bakugou family at all. Inko noticed the professional attire and realized that Haruka must have come from her labs, where she worked during the week on her research. Inko swallowed nervously and eased into the room.

The door swung shut with a clang. Haruka looked up from the paperwork she was filling out. Her red eyes widened slightly and then narrowed as she looked at Inko. "I should have figured," she said with a frown. She turned back to the secretary behind the counter, "Let me guess, the person we were waiting for was her, wasn't it?" She gestured over her shoulder at Inko.

Inko tightened her hand into a fist, refusing to rise to that bait as she walked up to the front desk.

"Your name, ma'am?" the woman behind the counter looked slightly harried, a familiar expression found on the faces of those who had to deal with annoyed Bakugous. Inko had seen plenty of people worn thin by Haruka in their younger years.

"Midoriya Inko," she said, "I received a call about my son? Has something… happened?"

The woman gave her a smile that made Inko's stomach clench. It was one of those pitying smiles that people tended to give her when they found out about her absentee husband. Inko's hand tightened into a fist that she pressed against her stomach. She looked to Haruka, questions in her eyes. Haruka met her eyes and lifted one shoulder slightly in a shrug. She, too, didn't know what was going on.

"If you two will come with me," the woman said as she got to her feet. "I can take you to where you need to be."

Haruka clicked her tongue in annoyance but followed the woman with a sharp turn on her heel. Inko trailed behind them both, confusion making her actions slower. Every time Inko had come to a school for something that involved Izuku and Katsuki before, even the time they'd fought on the same side, it had been Haruka's husband that came. Not Haruka herself.

Inko couldn't help but wonder what had changed. Was Tetsuma out of town? Was he unable to get away from work? Was what happened that serious? Haruka considered her work to be so important that interruptions were barely tolerated. Was she simply between projects?

Feeling as though maybe she was reading too much into it, Inko shook her head to clear it. Unless she asked, she would never get her answer and, truth be told, she was a little afraid to ask.

They were led out of the offices and down a series of hallways. Inko could hear children laughing, teachers talking, the shuffle of many people inside rooms. Classes were going on all around them, making the silent walk down the hallway surreal.

Haruka stopped abruptly. Nearly walking into her back out of distraction, Inko hurriedly stepped to the side. That was when she saw what Haruka was looking at.

The door that the secretary was opening had a sign above it. _Infirmary_ read the sign.

"Oh no," Inko whispered. "What happened?"

"I don't like this," Haruka said softly. Inko glanced to her and saw that Haruka wasn't just talking to herself, she was looking at Inko as well. Her eyes, so similar to Katsuki's, were intense and her mouth was pressed into a thin line. "What do you know about this?"

"They just asked me to come to the school," Inko whispered, looking away from Haruka. The woman was waiting for them, her smile empty and giving Inko a cold feeling. "They said that they needed to speak to me about something and they would explain here. It didn't… I asked if there was a problem and… I was just told…"

"That everything would be better explained in person, but not to worry because the boys were fine?" Haruka finished for her.

Inko nodded.

Haruka clicked her tongue against her teeth again before she stepped away. "All right, let's get this shitshow started then." She walked right past the woman who gave her a perturbed look.

Strangely, Inko felt buoyed up by Haruka's mood. She followed her into the room, bolstered by the fact that she wasn't going to face this alone, even if Haruka was a prickly person to have on her side.

Inside the room, Inko found a pair of teachers, the infirmary nurse, and her son.

One of the teachers stood immediately upon Haruka's entrance. It was All Might, who's uncharacteristically serious expression made Inko's breath catch in her throat and stop there. She'd never seen him in a suit like that and while some part of her was floored to actually be in his presence, his worried expression cut right to the quick of her heart.

Looking at the bed, it was obvious to see why he was so worried.

Izuku sat at the very head of an infirmary bed. His knees were drawn up to his chest. His head was tucked down with his arms wrapped around it, covering and protecting him. He sat so very still that Inko was worried he wasn't breathing.

"Izuku…?" She whispered, stepping towards him.

Her son flinched on the bed and curled up tighter.

Turning to the teachers, Inko's mouth was open to demand answers but Haruka was there first.

Standing between Inko and the teachers, Haruka folded her arms across her chest, lifted her chin and demanded. "I want a full fucking explanation of what is going on. What happened to the boys? Where is my son? Are they in trouble? Have they been attacked again?"

"Again?" Inko whispered.

Haruka glanced over her shoulder at Inko, "Did you even speak to Izuku yesterday or did they come straight to my house?"

Inko shook her head, "He texted after school he was going over to Katsuki's and I.. I didn't see a problem with it." She still didn't, either. They were best friends! True, they spent a lot of time together and depended on each other but… they were better this way. It was better to have them side by side than to have Izuku bullied day in and day out.

"Everything can be explained," All Might began, putting up a hand to try and pacify Haruka.

It didn't work. Haruka leaned forward, a sneer on her face, "Then fucking explain it to me!"

A bit of motion caught Inko's eye and she looked back to the bed where her son sat. He had lifted his head, wide green eyes visible now as he lowered an arm to look at her. "Mom?"

"Izuku, I'm here," Inko's heart lurched in her chest. She was moving before she even thought about it, drawn to her son like his trembling voice was a string tied to her wrist. Standing beside the bed, she reached out to touch him, to comfort him with a hand to his hair.

Her hand stopped several inches short of Izuku when it met some sort of invisible barrier. Inko blinked and pressed her palm against something that wasn't there. When the invisible thing moved, she pulled her hand back quickly, eyes widening.

Izuku lifted his head further, though he didn't uncurl at all. Looking at him, and around him, Inko saw depressions in the mattress, as though whatever invisible thing was wrapped around him had a weight. Izuku seemed to be able to see it, whatever it was, because he grabbed and moved something out of the way of his face so he could keep seeing Inko. Or at least, that's what she assumed.

"Honey," she whispered, "What happened?"

"Mom, they won't let me go back to class," Izuku said. Inko had seen his filled with tears too many times to mistake the expression now. She felt her own eyes water as he spoke. "They won't let me leave the room."

"What?"

"Now, now," An older voice said. Inko glanced back to see a small, elderly woman hopping down from her seat. "Let's not have any misunderstandings here. Young Izuku is in the infirmary because he has an untreated injury that he is refusing to let anyone see the extent of. I've been treating teenagers for years and what they consider to be adequate bandaging can lead to all sorts of complications with infection and disease.

"And your son," the woman said, turning her gaze to Haruka, "is still in his class. We thought it best to keep them apart, for the time being, considering that Izuku has said the injuries he refuses to show came from Katsuki."

"Recovery Girl, if you could have-" All Might said, his face pinched.

"Some bandages must be removed quickly," Recovery Girl said, "It's clear that coddling the boys is what got them to this level of codependency." She waved her cane towards Inko and Izuku, saying with a little frown, "This is the first time he's asked to go back to class. Before you came, he was only asking to return to 'his Kacchan'. Are you even aware of how these two interact with each other on a regular basis?"

Inko opened her mouth to reply, but her eyes caught on Haruka's face. That confident sneer had bled away. Inko saw a twitch in her cheek as Haruka clenched her jaw together and saw her arms tighten, fingers turning white at the knuckles under her grip. Slowly turning to look at Izuku, Inko asked, "What is she talking about, Izuku?"

Izuku, in contrast to the way Haruka went pale, flushed with color. His chin dipped down. His gaze flicked away.

His hair was smoothed back by an invisible hand.

"I believe that what we have is a case of a mutually co-dependent relationship," Recovery Girl said. She rested both hands on the top of her cane, standing in the center of the group and holding everyone's attention. "Whereas most co-dependent relationships involve the enabling of dangerous habits like drug use, these two enable each other in different ways, such as with violence or sexual acts."

"I fucking _knew it,"_ Haruka said suddenly. Her eyes burned as she turned them up from Recovery Girl towards Izuku and, consequently, Inko. "I don't know how you fucking did it, boy, but I could tell you had pulled Katsuki into some sort of weird shit. You were always so fucking needy, being around him all the fucking time. I could tell it was only a matter of time before you pulled him into some sort of fucked up relationship."

"Izuku didn't pull Katsuki into anything!" Inko said, instinctively defending her son. "They're friends, Haruka. Can't you see that? Maybe they're a little close but they've only had each other for years. It takes time to- to- to recover from that kind of isolation" Inko clutched her hands into tight fists in front of herself. She kept speaking, despite the lump of cold iron that settled in her gut. "It hasn't even been a full semester at a new school. You have to give them a chance to open up to other students!"

The silence that filled the room-

The looks that the other adults gave each other-

Inko swallowed tightly. Embarrassment clawed its way up her throat. Was she… was she wrong? Had she really missed something?

It was hard to breathe. What had she missed? _How_ could she have missed something like what was being described? Had she been wrong in thinking that they were just… close? That everything was normal between them?

"...Izuku…?" Inko asked. She glanced to Izuku, but he had ducked his face down again. He wouldn't meet her gaze.

No, it wasn't that she'd missed something. It was that Izuku had _hid_ something from her, wasn't it? If everyone else could see it, had seen it, knew what was going on- If she was the only one out of the loop-

Did that mean her son acted _that_ differently away from home?

"Izuku," Inko's voice shook, but she continued on anyway. "What injury are they talking about? Can you show it to me?"

He hunched his shoulders tighter.

"Please," she whispered. She leaned forward, resting one hand on the mattress. "I promise I won't be mad. I'm just…" Inko swallowed, "I'm scared right now, Izuku. I need to know that you're okay."

Izuku looked at her with those big green eyes, silently pleading. "You don't need to be scared," he whispered back, "I'm okay. I promise I'm okay. I just… I just want to go back to class with Kacchan."

"Enough of this," Haruka said suddenly, "Didn't you hear the woman, Inko? Your coddling of the boy has led to this shitty behavior!" She came stalking over to the bed, heels clicking on the tile floor and reaching out.

"Haruka- Don't-"

"You can see the bandage is right on his goddamn neck," Haruka said. "Just take it off and- FUCK!" She cut herself off with a shout, yanking her hand back. Inko pulled back as well, startled by the shout. "The fuck was _that?"_ Haruka demanded, shaking her arm.

Inko hadn't seen Haruka use her quirk in years, but that didn't mean she'd forgotten. There was a distinctive smell to it that Inko could only describe as the scent of hot steel. Her skin glowed slightly with the use of her quirk, giving off both heat and light like the warm glow of an open oven. Her skin itself, Inko knew, would be hard like tempered steel.

Haruka hadn't been quick enough to escape all injury, though. There was a perfectly circular indent of teeth on her forearm, the marks easily reaching the middle of her arm. Had the bite gone in, she would have lost a sizeable chunk of flesh.

The bed creaked ominously. Inko saw an intent in the mattress as the thing moved. With her heart in her throat, Inko grabbed Haruka and pulled her backward. They both went stumbling across the floor, but Inko heard something go whistling through the air.

Izuku, wide-eyed, was reaching up at the invisible thing. "Usagi-chan, no! Do not hurt Kacchan's mom!"

In the next instant, Inko could no longer see her son as All Might stood between her and him. Haruka, surprisingly, didn't shake Inko off, only stood near her as they both looked on.

"Midoriya," All Might said, "If you cannot control her, you must send her away."

"She didn't mean to hurt anyone," Izuku's voice rose, "She was just reacting!"

"She attacked a civilian."

"But- She-"

"Midoriya," All Might's voice was firm, unyielding. "If she's part of your quirk, you are responsible for her actions. Send her away now. Do not summon her lightly. You know how dangerous she can be."

Izuku made a soft, familiar noise. Inko closed her eyes, willing away the tears. She knew that sound well, though she hadn't heard it since he was younger. Izuku was fighting back his own tears, desperate to remain dry-eyed.

Her heart ached. How many sounds of pain or distress did she still remember from those days? How deeply buried were those memories, if they struck her now with this much force? She wanted to sit down and weep, her heart torn open with grief over how she'd forgotten her son's suffering, only to hear it anew and remember it with such clarity.

"Thank you," All Might said. Inko blinked and looked up to see him stepping to the side. He was smiling, but it looked strained.

"What the fuck was that thing?" Haruka asked. She was looking at Inko this time, though, and had turned to grip Inko's upper arm. "What the hell kind of quirk did your son develop? I thought he was born quirkless."

"He-" Inko swallowed. Haruka's gaze was piercing. "He developed it late."

"That doesn't happen," Haruka said with complete confidence. "You don't develop a quirk late. You are either born with one or you're not. Of course, there are other ways to get one, but that's with the use of someone else's quirk. Your DNA doesn't spontaneously develop a quirk mutation, Inko, don't be a fucking idiot."

"He developed it late," Inko reiterated. "He didn't have a quirk at all until- until just a little while ago!"

"Then someone gave him a quirk," Haruka said. She rounded on Izuku, letting go of Inko. "That's what happened, isn't it? Someone gave you a quirk. Who was it? Did you get my son involved in that? What the hell did you promise in exchange for that quirk?"

"Don't talk to my son that way!" Inko said, grabbing Haruka's arm to prevent her from crowding Izuku's bed. "He doesn't have to answer any of your questions."

"He does when he's been leading _my_ son around by his dick," Haruka snarled. The skin under Inko's hands began to heat, forcing her to let go of Haruka. That hot-steel smell filled the air again, triggering memories of the times they were in high school, where Haruka practiced her tempering quirk over and over until she'd completely mastered it. "If he's gotten Katsuki wrapped up in some shady shit because he couldn't stand being the quirkless little fuck that he was born as then I absolutely should fucking know about it!"

"Ladies, that is quite enough," Recovery Girl said, attempting to deflate Haruka's temper.

Inko could have told her not to bother, but she couldn't manage to untangle her tongue long enough to argue for her own self right now.

Haruka turned on the elderly woman. Her anger showed in every hard line of her jaw and the set of her shoulders. "You're a fucking nurse, aren't you? Have you done a proper examination of that boy? He has all the classic quirkless markers. He spent the first fourteen fucking years of his life without a quirk and then suddenly, mysteriously, gets his hands on some sort of invisible monster quirk? Does that not concern any of you? Anyone who has access to such a dangerous quirk and thinks that it's a good idea to give that quirk to a fucking _teenager_ is a reprobate."

All Might cleared his throat, shifting on his feet behind Haruka. She turned to him, more than willing to fight anyone when she was right and she knew it, "Do you have something to add?"

"If that is the case," the third teacher, who had remained sitting throughout this all, finally spoke up. Inko jumped a little, not expecting it and her eyes widened at the sight of the bandages he was covered in. "What do you suggest? Should we demand Midoriya tell us who gave him the quirk? Do we attempt to take it back from him?"

"Expel him," Haruka said instantly. "He got in under false pretenses, didn't he. Did he list 'invisible monster' as his quirk on his application? Has he even shown it before now? And if you do then it solves the co-dependency problem as well. Kick him out of the school and they'll both have to learn how to survive without the other." She looked around the room as though it made perfect sense, her hands on her hips and her expression serious.

"Wait," Inko shook her head, "What? You want to punish my son for having a quirk? Don't you know how hard he worked to come to Yuuei? Don't you understand how much he loves this place? He and Katsuki-"

"Should be separated," Haruka said, "Oh don't look at me like that, Inko. Tell me you haven't seen it. The way they sit together. They way they still share the same bed. They still bathe together, for god's sake! They're not just friends, Inko, and they're too damn young for what they're trying to become!"

"Maybe we should-" All Might cleared his throat again.

Haruka cut him off, "Either you expel Izuku or I'm pulling Katsuki from this school. If you can't be bothered to put the emotional and mental well-being of your students above their education then this is the wrong facility for my son."

"No!" Izuku suddenly shouted, "Please! Don't- Don't- I mean-" He faltered hand going up to cover his mouth as though realizing, like Inko did, that his outburst only showed how dangerously close he and Katsuki were.

"Just because they're close doesn't mean we should rip them away from each other," Inko said into the quiet that followed her son's stuttering. "They need time to open up to other students. We just have to be patient and give them more opportunities to-"

"You're so naive, Inko," Haruka said. "The safest thing is to separate them now while they're still young and before the alienate the other students."

"How can you be so sure that's the safest thing?" Inko asked, "They're young. All they'll know is that it'll hurt!"

"I will not have my son around yours," Haruka said, "It isn't fucking safe."

"I'd rather them be together than apart," Inko countered. "When they weren't friends, _your_ son tormented Izuku constantly! Bruises and bloody noses, insults that made him cry himself to sleep- Haruka, I was scared that my twelve-year-old son was going to try and _kill himself_ because of what Katsuki was doing to him!" Inko hiccuped, gulping down air to keep the tears at bay. She hated fighting, hated shouting, hated the way that her conversations with her former best friend devolved into arguments like this.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad-"

"Yes, it was!" Inko cried, "Do you know how many times I found him crying because he felt worthless? Izuku craved Katsuki's friendship and instead he was bullied and harassed. Then they were able to- to get past that. Maybe they are a little too close but the solution isn't to rip them apart from each other!"

"Better now than have it happen later," Haruka said, "They still have a chance at normalcy if they're separated."

"I don't care if my son is normal or not," Inko said firmly. "I just want him to be happy and safe. If that means that he's with Katsuki, then that means he's with Katsuki."

"If you really wanted him to be safe, why let him become a hero at all? That's one of the most dangerous professions, Inko, not to mention if he stays at Katsuki's side he'll be subject to that boy's temper," Haruka said, gesturing with a hand. "You should be begging to get that monstrous quirk out of your boy so that you can take him home where he'll be all safe and cared for."

A knock at the door cut Inko off from replying to that. She glanced over her shoulder as the door swung in. A woman with long dark hair and wearing a hero outfit poked her head in. "Hey," she said, "You guys wanted a heads up for when that Bakugou kid got fed up with waiting? Well, it happened like five minutes ago. He just walked out of Mic's class."

The bandaged man turned to look at a clock and said, "He lasted four hours." He got slowly to his feet, muttering, "Midnight, would you mind finding him and bringing him to staff room B?"

"Yeah, yeah, can do," She slipped away again, closing the door behind herself.

Inko nervously worried her lip. "What's going on now?"

"All Might," the man said, "Would you mind-"

"Not at all," the larger hero said. "Young Midoriya, come with me." He gestured towards the door. "We, too, are going to staff room B."

Inko saw as Izuku's entire face lit up. The hope and anticipation burned through the fear and tears as he clambered off the bed. He got off as far away from Haruka, who was stunned by the sudden turn of events, as possible. Before he left with All Might, Izuku gave his mother a smile that eased the worry in her gut. No matter what happened, he always would be her sweet little boy and smiles like those guaranteed it.

"What the fuck is going on," Haruka demanded. "Tell me right now."

"This morning I decided to test out a theory." The bandaged teacher said, "One would think that the boys are inseparable from the way they act. However, we've had some success in keeping them apart. They do group projects and team up with other students, never each other, and tolerate that fairly well. Even when in dangerous situations, they deal with the immediate problem instead of disregarding all others to find each other.

"What I wanted to know was what would happen when there was no real urgent problem to deal with and they were separated without a definite knowledge of when that time would end. Pulling Izuku from class was simple, because he had a real problem that needed to be discussed." The man gestured to his own features with one lazy hand, "The injury on his throat is real. I believe him when he says that Katsuki gave it to him. I have an idea of what it is, despite what he's said it to be. That was not really my concern."

"You wanted to know how Katsuki would react without Izuku there, without knowing what was going on," Haruka said, her voice surprisingly quiet.

The man nodded. "He made it four hours, but I bet those weren't four calm hours."

"What does this mean?" Inko asked.

"It means that there is hope," Recovery Girl said gently. She walked over to a chair and eased herself down. "Separating them the way you suggest is too much. Expelling one or removing the other would cause a drastic reaction for sure. But we, as teachers, can make other arrangements."

Inko worried her lip with her teeth.

Haruka snorted, "You're being too damn soft on them."

"This is not the case of a badly healed bone," Recovery Girl said. "We cannot break their bond and reform it to heal again properly. We can only make small adjustments over time to ease the strain."

"Like a brace," Inko murmured. Recovery Girl nodded to her.

"Then if you were going to do all of that anyway," Haruka demanded, "Why the hell did you bother asking for us to be here? Were you fucking testing our reactions too?" As soon as she said the words, she took an aggressive step forward, "Fuck you, that's _exactly_ what you were doing, isn't it?"

Inko's breath got caught in a surprised laugh. "You must be Aizawa," she said, "The homeroom teacher."

"I am," Aizawa said.

Haruka paused to and then asked, "The same teacher who said he was going to expel the worst kid in a test just to make them all work harder? God _damn_ it, _of course,_ you are."

Despite Haruka's obvious annoyance, Inko couldn't help but feel a little relieved. If she knew that story too, then there had to be _some_ hope to fix things. As long as they were all still talking to each other, things could be salvaged. Inko fully believed that.

It was when they stopped talking that things got worse.

It was when people held secrets that things fell apart.


	25. Conflagration 4

**Conflagration**

 **Chapter 4 of 20**

* * *

There was a bitter taste in the back of Izuku's mouth and a heavy weight in his gut. It was hard to believe what he'd just sat through and he couldn't tell if it was shame or guilt that burned his cheeks; if it was anger or his feeling of injustice that made his spine stiff as he walked down the hallway with All Might at his side.

So many parts of this situation were _wrong._ Being near All Might shouldn't make him feel like he was being judged or wronged somehow. All Might was his hero, the one man Izuku had looked up to for as long as he could remember. Izuku was in the hallway of the best hero school and yet, in the back of his mind, he was thinking of the best way to escape and never return.

He was afraid that the teachers would agree with Haruka and expel him. He was even more afraid that she would follow through on her threat and remove Katsuki from Yuuei if he _didn't_ get expelled.

He was terrified that the next time Usagi came out, she'd remember their expressions. That she'd feel the feelings he felt now and she would act for herself.

She didn't do it often and usually only did it to say goodnight to the moon, but sometimes-

"Midoriya," All Might stood a few feet ahead of him. He was half turned, looking at him with concern.

Izuku looked at his chiseled face, his broad shoulders, the visible strength that was, he had learned only hours ago, a facade. The hero of his childhood was more often a shade of his former self than he was the man that Izuku had always felt like he knew. And perhaps that truth was the most unfair thing of all.

All Might didn't deserve to be so battered and broken, after all he'd done as a hero, after all he had suffered. "...Sir?"

"You stopped…?"

Izuku blinked and realized that was true. He had stopped in the middle of the hallway. He looked around and when his eye caught on a nearby door, he realized what he had to do. "Uh. Yeah. Actually, could I go to the bathroom before we get there?"

All Might seemed taken aback and then nodded. Izuku _had_ spent all morning with him, after all. He hadn't any bathroom breaks yet. "Yes, go ahead. I'll wait out here."

Izuku nodded and trotted into the bathroom. As soon as he was inside, he flicked his wrist, dislodging Good Luck from her holster on his wrist. He pushed in the bathroom stall door and locked it behind himself. Getting down on his knees, Izuku unbound the bandages on his neck and pulled them down.

It was a bit gross to be so close to a toilet when he wasn't vomiting and thus too preoccupied with his own sickness that he didn't think of how nasty a toilet was. Still, he didn't really have a choice at this point, did he?

Izuku leaned over the toilet, tucking his tie into his shirt so it didn't fall into the water. He found his jugular with his fingers, searching for the feeling of his own heartbeat. Once he found it, Izuku sank Good Luck into his flesh.

The bite of the metal was sudden and sharp, but intimately familiar. Izuku had just enough strength to pull the knife out again and drop it to the floor before his heart, beating as hard as it was, pumped his blood out in spurts into the toilet bowl.

Izuku came too with the feeling of porcelain digging into his chest and the sensation that he was upside down.

He wasn't, not really, but his head certainly was slumped forward enough that he felt that way. Slowly, shaking off the grogginess rather quickly, Izuku pushed himself up. He flushed the toilet and looked around, checking for any blood on the tile.

Finding a few drops here or there, he quickly wiped them up with toilet paper and then flushed those too.

Picking up Good Luck, he stepped out of the stall and into the main bathroom area.

Izuku didn't expect to see anyone standing there, washing their hands in the sink, but there someone stood. For a second, Izuku stood, frozen in the stall door as his eyes met that of another student's in the mirror above the sink. For another second, there was nothing but the sound of running water.

Izuku could see his own face in the mirror. The way that he had positioned himself over the toilet bowl had prevented his blood from running down his neck to his collarbone and his shirt. Instead, it had run up his chin, over half of his face and into his hair.

His blood was like a garish red mask, making him look wild and frightening, especially with his wide, surprised eyes. It hadn't yet dried and as Izuku stood there, it began to drip down to his collar. "Shit," he hissed, rushing forwards to the other sink. He grabbed paper towels and hurriedly stopped the blood from reaching his clothes. Izuku dampened some of them and began to clean up the rest of the blood.

The other student, one that Izuku didn't recognize offhand (though that wasn't really saying much), stared at him in complete silence. He still hadn't moved, allowing the water from his faucet to run over his hands in a constant stream.

"Head wounds," Izuku said with a bit of nervous laughter, "They always bleed so damn much." He rinsed off Good Luck and dried the blade on a paper towel before putting it back into place on his wrist under his jacket sleeve.

This comment was met with more silence, although the other boy did reach up and turn off his own faucet. Izuku gave him a nervous smile, the kind that was a bit sheepish, as he went back to washing the blood off his face. He turned his head, looking in his peripheral to make sure he'd gotten it all off his ears. He'd almost been caught like that before and wasn't about to let it happen again.

Running a hand through his hair, Izuku grimaced. It was tacky already and wasn't going to get any better. Fortunately, it was after lunch so he had only a few hours left of school. His dark hair would obscure it for that long, at least. He only had to worry about it if Katsuki touched his hair and then only for-

"Are you in the Heroics Department?" The other student asked his voice was flat, but his words carefully spoken.

"What? Oh yeah, I … am…" Izuku blinked slowly. There was a strange filminess that drifted over his mind. He could still feel the paper towels in his hands and the cold edge of the sink from where he leaned his hip against it but… nothing else.

Distantly, Izuku was aware that someone was talking to him. His dazed eyes moved off of the face in the mirror, the one with green eyes and dark hair and utterly vacant expression. He felt compelled to turn, his head moving first and his body following like he was on a set of marionettist's strings.

He faced someone he still didn't recognize, but his eyes took in the information for later. This was the person who was talking to him. Izuku could see his lips moving, but the sound just didn't carry to his brain. There were sounds that followed that, ones that poured out of his throat like blood, echoing in his head as he answered.

Izuku privately thought that whatever he was saying couldn't make any sense, since he couldn't understand what was being asked of him in the first place. But the person didn't look annoyed, just grim. Strange. What a strange expression.

Something happened abruptly, causing the person in front of him to jump and look past Izuku.

In the very next second, clarity rushed back Izuku's mind and he gasped, looking around. He instantly caught sight of All Might, poking his head in the door. "Midoriya?" His teacher asked, frowning slightly, "Are you… done?"

"Ah, yes! Sorry. I just um.. My hands…" Izuku said. He swallowed tightly, seeing the paper towels in his hands were dark with blood and water. He flushed and went to throw them away, checking his reflection for any blood.

"Ahem," an unfamiliar voice said. Izuku blinked and looked over his shoulder. That was right. There was a student here. He'd been here when Izuku had walked out of the bathroom stall… right? The student gestured to the side of his jaw, "You missed a spot, Midoriya."

Izuku glanced to the mirror, seeing the red smudge that the other student saw and hurriedly wiped it clean. "Um, thanks….?"

"Shinsou Hitoshi," was the answer. "And you're welcome." He grabbed paper towels himself drying his hands while Izuku gave him an awkward hand wave and hurried to the doorway.

Once in the hallway, All Might said, "Your neck… You removed the bandage?"

Izuku touched his throat, nodding. "I wanted to see if it had finished healing… It had." He licked his lips, feeling strangely on edge. It was always chancy lying to an adult, especially one like All Might. Katsuki liked to say that most people were useless and stupid, but there were some people who weren't quite so stupid.

Those ones, he said, were just smart enough to be dangerous.

All Might was like that. He had given Izuku One For All, and thus, was knowledgeable enough to know that Izuku's enhancement quirk didn't actually come with the ability to heal.

Still, All Might didn't argue with him when he said that he'd healed. Just said that he was glad that Izuku was no longer hurt and continued to take him to the staff room.

Before All Might even opened the door to the staff room, Izuku could hear shouting. He winced, recognizing Katsuki's voice easily. He stopped his teacher from going in first, wary for the man's safety in retrospect of his condition. Izuku cautiously slid the door open.

Smoke rolled out at his feet and, upon breathing it in, Izuku felt woozy with fatigue. He staggered back, coughing, bringing up his coat jacket to cover his mouth and nose. There was a crack of an explosion. The blast of that explosion dispersed the rolling smoke.

All Might's hand braced Izuku's back, but in seconds that wasn't necessary.

Following the explosion, Katsuki came lunging through the doorway. "Deku!" He shouted.

"Kacchan," Izuku smiled. He barely got his arms up in time for Katsuki's hug. Katsuki squeezed the air from his lungs, making Izuku's bones crack as he held him tight. Izuku opened his mouth to say something but was completely cut off when Katsuki kissed him hard.

"Hey, don't let him- Oh God _damn it."_ Izuku heard his other teacher, Midnight, say. But he wasn't really paying attention to her, couldn't be. Katsuki was demanding all of his attention. Izuku felt one of Katsuki's hands go up, headed for his hair, and he grabbed a hold of it to hold it down.

Katsuki bit his lip for it and the kiss became more of a struggle than before. Izuku didn't mind, because it helped wipe his mind clear of the emotions that plagued him. If he just focused on Katsuki, he could-

"That is _enough,"_ Midnight said. Gripping them each by a shoulder, she began to physically pull them apart. She managed to stop their kissing before Katsuki caught on.

"Wait- Don't-" Izuku gasped out. Katsuki's arms tightened harder around him to prevent Midnight from pulling them apart. His breathing became shallow pants as Katsuki practically growled at their teacher.

"You don't get to fucking tell me when I've had enough," Katsuki said.

"I do get to tell you when you've done enough. Don't you have any sense, kid? You're at school, in a hallway in front of your teachers! Do you think this is an appropriate place to suck face?" Midnight said gesturing to the two of them.

"What do you fucking think?" Katsuki snapped, "I was fucking doing it like two damn seconds ago before your ancient ass got in my fucking way."

Izuku winced as he saw points of color rising on Midnight's cheeks. She visibly was holding herself back, teeth clenched and hands curling into fists. At his back, Izuku could feel All Might's disapproval. Izuku sighed gently. He hadn't done a damn thing all day and he still just wanted to go home and sleep.

He couldn't even rest his head on Katsuki's shoulder without fear of smearing blood on him. Everything was awful.

"Midnight," All Might said, "Thank you for your help. I'm sure I can handle it from here."

Midnight opened her mouth, perhaps to argue, or to agree, but all that came out was a sigh. Shaking her head, she muttered that All Might was 'welcome to the little monsters' and she had class anyway. Turning on her heel, she walked off, her back stiff.

"Boys," All Might said with a wave to the door, "If we could go inside and talk…?"

Izuku couldn't see All Might from where he stood, but he could see the expression on Katsuki's face when he looked up at the hero. He was serious, and, in the set of his jaw, Izuku could tell that Katsuki was going to be willful and stubborn today too. "Kacchan," he whispered, "I'm tired… Can we go sit down?"

Almost immediately, Katsuki relaxed his grip on Izuku's chest. "Yeah, okay." He tugged Izuku into the room behind himself, waving his hand through the air a little bit. "Sorry, she kept trying to put me to sleep so I had to keep burning that fucking smoke."

There were wisps of smoke curling along the floor and ceiling. Katsuki left Izuku on the couch and went to a window. He opened both of them before coming back.

Izuku sat in the corner of the couch, legs drawn up under himself. Katsuki sat beside him, turned towards him. A gentle hand brushed Izuku's throat. "You healed…?" Katsuki asked in a whisper.

Izuku nodded, "I found a little Good Luck in the bathroom a while ago."

Katsuki's lips pressed into a thin line.

The door shut behind All Might, who walked slowly into the room and sank down into a chair across from the two of them. He sighed heavily, leaning forward with his elbow on his knee.

Katsuki looked from All Might to Izuku and said, "Tell me what happened."

Izuku nodded. He took Katsuki's hands in his own, rubbing them idly to keep his own hands busy as he explained his morning.

He started with Aizawa's questioning about his 'injury' and how he'd admitted it was Katsuki's 'love bites' that he'd covered. Katsuki snorted when Izuku flushed at how he had to explain that there wasn't a real injury, it was just marks left by Katsuki.

When he brought up All Might's arrival, Izuku glanced to the hero himself. He still had his buff form visible, but his eyes looked more sunken than usual. As Izuku explained that All Might's quirk and the scars from his battles were destroying his body, Katsuki's hands tightened around Izuku's. For all that he boasted about being even better than All Might, Katsuki looked up to the hero as well.

Finding out he was still human, still mortal, wasn't easy.

Izuku didn't hesitate to reiterate the things that All Might had told him. While the horror in All Might's voice as he explained the downfall of his own mentor- of the woman who had given her quirk to him- had been audible in the way his voice had shaken during the story, Izuku couldn't help but be fascinated by it. There was someone else out there who could die and come back.

True, he had been a villain, and true, he'd repeatedly attacked All Might's mentor until she'd cracked her morals in half just to be rid of him- but Izuku was fascinated.

Someone else was like him, undying and intelligent, and he had been all alone. Izuku thought that was what had turned the man into a monster.

Bringing one of Katsuki's hands to his cheek, Izuku presses the rough palm to his skin and looked at Katsuki with earnest belief written across his face. There was a moment of silence as he sat like that. Katsuki's thumb moved gently over Izuku's lips, a tender touch that mimicked the soft expression he had on his face.

He didn't say it, but Izuku thought that part of the reason he didn't feel capable of becoming such a monster himself was because of Katsuki. Maybe he would have been fine on his own, but he was _better_ with Katsuki around.

Katsuki's most visceral reaction came when Izuku said that their mothers had been called and had shown up.

"My _mom_ was here?" Katsuki gaped, "What the fuck does that old hag think she's fucking doing? She's got more important shit than to be down here dealing with my shit!"

"Maybe they didn't bother calling your dad," Izuku said with a shrug, "All I know is that after I brought Usagi out to keep anyone from getting the bandages off, our mothers showed up."

"Well? What happened when they were here? What did she fucking say? Fuck, did she get all bitchy about stupid shit again?"

Izuku licked his lips and did his best to reiterate the argument he'd witnessed. Katsuki's grip on his hands became like iron shackles when Izuku said Haruka wanted Izuku's expulsion or to remove Katsuki from Yuuei.

"She can't do that," he whispered, "I won't let her."

"You can't fight your mom," Izuku countered.

"I will if I have to," Katsuki said. "And I'll win, too."

"...I don't think that either of you will need to fight anyone," All Might said.

Izuku jumped a little, having forgotten that All Might was there. He blinked, noticing for the first time that he had, for lack of a better term, deflated. Katsuki stared openly for a minute before muttering a curse.

All Might's gaze moved from one to the other and then he said, "You really do tell him everything…"

"Kacchan and I have no secrets," Izuku said. Katsuki nodded.

All Might coughed weakly, covering his mouth with one hand. "That's… impressive. But in this case, it could be dangerous too. I have told you about how there is someone with the quirk opposite to mine who is acting against me, against all heroes, correct?"

"All For One," Katsuki said, "Yeah. Deku told me."

"Having you know about him, about all of this, puts you in danger too, Bakugou." All Might said, folding his hands together in his lap. "This isn't a game, boys, this is incredibly serious."

Izuku met Katsuki's gaze. He lifted his brows. Katsuki rolled his eyes. Izuku leaned forward slightly. Katsuki sighed and shrugged. With a little smile, Izuku turned more towards All Might. "We understand that, sir. We aren't treating it like a game either. Kacchan and I train together so that he can be as strong as possible and so that I can be as flexible as possible. Alone, yeah, maybe All For One would be a danger to us, but together?"

"Nothing can defeat us when we're together," Katsuki said, "And I almost feel bad for the fucker who tries to take us both down."

All Might rubbed his hand across his mouth and Izuku heard him whisper, under his breath and muffled, "...might turn out okay after all…"

Elated, Izuku grinned.

With Katsuki at his side and All Might believing in them, was there anything they couldn't do?

* * *

"You got _detention?_ Kacchan!"

Katsuki rolled his eyes and bumped his shoulder against Izuku's as they walked. They were finally headed back to class, after all the fucking _nonsense_ his teachers had pulled. Katsuki was personally glad that he didn't have to deal with his mother for an extra hour that day, as she was sure to be at home when he got back. "Birdface deserved it. He said that you wanted to be away from me."

Izuku sighed. He squeezed Katsuki's hand, their fingers intertwined, "I'll talk to him, okay? I want to see if I can figure out some stuff about Usagi from him, though, maybe I should look more into that man All Might told us about."

Katsuki shrugged. "Whatever. Just so long as that feathered fuck knows that he was wrong and I was right."

Izuku laughed and agreed.


End file.
